As David Moyes embarks on a new adventure coaching Real Sociedad, we look back at the experiences of some of the other British coaches who travelled to Spain in order to unlock the key to making the transition…
Friday 21 November 2014 10:58, UK
David Moyes isn’t the first former Manchester United manager to try his luck in La Liga. Nor is he the first former Everton boss to pitch up in the Basque Country. Real Sociedad have even had a Scottish coach taking the sessions in San Sebastian.
Through a series of interviews with Ron Atkinson, Howard Kendall and Steve Kean, Sky Sports takes a look at what Moyes can expect from his Spanish adventure. How important is the language? Will the pressure be less now he’s away from Manchester United? The answers might be surprising…
Ron Atkinson was named Atletico Madrid coach in 1988 just two years after being sacked as manager of Manchester United…
“They actually got in touch with me on the night I left Manchester United,” Atkinson told Sky Sports. “The president of the club wanted to see me and virtually promised me the job at the end of the season. So I didn't bother getting another job in football other than my television work. Unfortunately, in the intervening period he went and died.
“As a result, they then had an election to decide upon a new president. The new guy, Jesus Gil, came in and on his ticket he had Cesar Menotti and was promising to bring in Paulo Futre. The rival guy was backing me at short notice but he had no chance. Jesus Gil got the job and brought in Menotti, but I must have made some sort of impression because when he got rid of Menotti he came in for me.
“Obviously, you need a translator. I'd rung Terry Venables up for advice and he said to me that no matter how much of the language I picked up I should make sure my translator always did my press conferences because if you make any sort of error they'll pounce on it. So that's what I did.
“In terms of coaching, I did a lot of stuff through the translator early on but I quickly picked up all the phrases that I needed. I also took Colin Addison with me as an assistant and he'd worked in Spain so he had a decent understanding of it all as well. We found that on the coaching side it wasn't that much of a problem - the boys knew what you wanted.
“I loved it and I thought it was great. I don't have many regrets in my career but I always intended to go back to Spain and manage there again. I had offers from Valencia and Sevilla to go back. I was only supposed to go to Sheffield Wednesday for the final three months of a season but I ended up getting engrossed in it there and then the Villa came in for me and that was it. But I had always intended to work out there again because I loved the lifestyle and had a great rapport with the players and the fans.”
Click here to read the full interview with Ron Atkinson about his time at Atletico Madrid
Howard Kendall left Everton as champions of England in 1987 to coach Real Sociedad’s Basque Country rivals Athletic Bilbao…
“They'd had British trainers before,” Kendall told Sky Sports. “Ronnie Allen and Mr [Fred] Pentland who was the original. He was where it all started. The reason the strips are the colour they are is because of Sunderland. There are strong links because of the ship-building industry. There was that connection.
“When I went there you had Real Sociedad and Osasuna. They were Basque-only too. But then they changed their policy and decided they were going to let new players come in. Real Sociedad soon brought three British [and Irish] players in - John Aldridge, Kevin Richardson and Dalian Atkinson. Osasuna took on Sammy Lee and Michael Robinson.
“The thing about Bilbao when you settle in and learn the philosophy is that you realise they bring in a foreign trainer to sort them out when things are going wrong. Then when everything is OK, they bring in their own.
“They wouldn't allow [me to have a non-Basque assistant]. That was part and parcel of it. You worked closely with the Basques and I actually lived with a Basque family. My assistant was Txetxu Rojo. What they were doing was grooming him to take over from me, which he did in 1989. I don't look back in regret on anything, really. I really enjoyed my two-and-a-half years there.”
Click here to read the full interview with Howard Kendall about his time at Athletic Bilbao
Steve Kean was Chris Coleman’s assistant at Real Sociedad in 2007 when the club was in the second tier of Spanish football…
“He should be very excited as I think it’s a great move. It just seems to fit,” Kean told Sky Sports. “The way the club is and the work ethic of the players, he’ll find is amazing. The Basque players love to work hard and that’s certainly the way David coaches.
“What David will find which was a bit of a culture shock for us when we were there is that most of the sessions are what they call ‘open sessions’ so you’ll have two or three thousands and eight or nine TV cameras there.
“They’re fanatical and the newspapers have twenty pages a day to fill only about Sociedad so there’s a massive spotlight that’s on the club every single day. It’s not going to be a quiet little get away from this, it’s going to be right under the spotlight in a fanatical place that just loves the club.
“In our time there we were trying to do the team talks in Spanish but they said to me and Chris (Coleman) ‘Can you do the talks in English?’ because they’re fiercely patriotic Basques. Unless you can speak Basque, which is a very difficult language, they would rather you speak English than Spanish because they don’t feel Spanish. So David delivering his team talks in English will be very well received.”
Watch David Moyes' first game in charge of Real Sociedad at Deportivo La Coruna this Saturday from 9pm on Sky Sports 5 HD
