Rob Parrish speaks to veteran striker Dean Windass about his move into coaching with Darlington.
As part of skysports.com's League Two spotlight, Rob Parrish speaks to veteran striker Dean Windass about his move into coaching with Darlington.
Dean Windass has travelled from one end of the football spectrum to the other in the space of little more than a year, yet the effervescent 40-year-old's passion for the game remains undimmed.
Windass carved out a place in Hull City folklore on May 24th 2008, when he lashed home the only goal against Bristol City in the Championship play-off final at Wembley to secure the Tigers their first-ever taste of top-flight football.
The Premier League beckoned for Hull, but Windass' dream turned sour as he fell out of favour under manager Phil Brown and made just one start - the humiliating 5-1 thrashing at Manchester City on Boxing Day where Brown gave his infamous half-time dressing down on the field, with the veteran striker substituted at the interval.
An unproductive loan spell at Oldham followed, before the well-travelled forward decided this summer that the time was right to take his first steps towards a career in management, with Darlington his unlikely next destination.
Windass joined a club whose very future was in the balance, the Quakers having been plunged into administration in February with manager Dave Penney and the vast majority of his squad heading for the exits at the end of the season as they sought security away from the North East minnows.
Colin Todd had accepted the challenge of managing Darlo's latest rise from the ashes, after being left with just two senior players on the books, and his powers of persuasion helped convince his former Bradford City charge that his future lay at the Darlington Arena, with Windass taking on the post of player-coach.
Despite a career which began at North Ferriby and took in spells with Hull, Aberdeen, Oxford, Bradford, both Sheffield Wednesday and United, Middlesbrough and Oldham, this is Windass' first experience of the lowest division in the Football League.
And while he admits that Todd's cobbled-together team - described by one commentator as a 'jumble sale squad' - may not be blessed with the talent on show higher up the divisions, they are all eager to learn and present Windass with the ideal opportunity to cut his coaching teeth.
Patient
Windass told
skysports.com: "I've never played at this level before. And, not being rude or nasty to players, every footballer has a level. Players are at this level for a reason.
"The good thing for me is that at this level you've got to coach players. You haven't got fortunes of money to spend. Whoever you bring in, you've got to coach them, you've got to develop them and you've got to be patient.
"I think that every manager in this division will tell you it is very frustrating. One minute players can play well, the next they are lower than a snake's belly. That's what I've found at the moment, especially with the younger lads. It's the ups and downs of League Two.
"I've always said that I would want to start my managerial career at the bottom, like I did with my football career. I want to work my way up, and that's what I'll try and do as an assistant.
"I'm enjoying every minute of it; I'm loving every minute of it. The players have responded fantastically well, I got the respect from them straight away, I could see that they were listening and it's pleasing to see they listen to what I say."
Windass enjoyed great popularity at the majority of the clubs he played for throughout his career, with his passionate, determined, spiky and no-nonsense approach helping him rack up well over 200 league and cup goals from his 700 appearances.
And he is a firm believer that he and Todd will get the best out of Darlington's assortment of journeymen, youngsters and free agents by keeping their methods simple, uncomplicated and by being honest and up-front.
He said: "I feel as though I've learned a hell of a lot in the game. I was never the best player in the world, but what I did was my job, which I knew I was good at.
"We don't ask players to do things that they can't do. My job wasn't to take three or four players on and smash it into the top corner - that wasn't my game. What I was good at, I did to the best of my ability and that worked for me.
"I think that's what I've taken on to being a coach. I tell the players to do what they're good at. We don't ask them to do what they can't do, otherwise you'd be a bad coach.
"I'm trying to coach the strikers to get into the right areas and make the right moves, and the midfield players as well. And they're listening and responding well.
"The key is to have good man-management skills, be honest with players. I've had managers who tell you lies, but that's not me. I learned a lot from Terry Venables, his man-management skills were second to none. You learn a lot from different managers. Some you get on with, some you don't.
"If I feel as though I have to tell somebody that they're not doing their job properly, I'll tell them. I'll not be nasty about it or rude, I'll tell them in the right way."
Concentrate
Windass will hang up his boots at the end of the campaign to concentrate fully on his career in the dugout, and he admits that he could never combine playing with management as his current level of dual responsibility is proving to be taxing.
After stepping off the bench in the recent home clash with Bury, Windass had the chance to rescue a point for the Quakers with a last-gasp spot-kick, but he scuffed his shot horribly after stepping up to take responsibility.
"You're the best player in the world when you're sat on that bench. It's like watching from the stands. You don't give the ball away when you're in the stands," he admitted. "I've always said to Colin that when he wants me to play, I'll play, and when he wants me to be on the bench, I'll be on the bench.
"I don't know how some managers go and be a player-manager. I think it's totally impossible. It's impossible for me as an assistant manager to go and give somebody a b******ing and then come on and miss a penalty, for example.
"You've got to concentrate on one job and one job only, and that's helping the players, and that is what I'll try to do.
"I'm retiring at the end of the season because I want to focus on being a coach and a manager. I've got a great tutor in Colin and I listen and watch him. Everyone has different styles, I've worked with a lot of fantastic managers in my career and you take little bits and bobs from people. It's a stepping stone into a new career for me."
