Burton live on Sky Sports 1 on Monday
Saturday 15 November 2014 15:43, UK
“I can’t explain it. I’m very, very excited. My career as a footballer has gone. It’s history. I’m a coach, a manager now.”
And with that, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the new man in charge at Burton Albion, introduced himself as a performer on a new stage – one that can often seem like a pantomime.
“I’m ready for that,” he assures me. “I know as the manager, I will be the focus. I will be criticised. I know things will not work all the time. It has nothing to do with playing football. Yes, my experiences in the game will help. But it’s the animal in me that wants to compete and show that I can do this.”
His “experiences in the game” made him a hero at Stamford Bridge and Elland Road. He scored more than 250 career goals, won 23 caps for Holland, and played in the 1998 World Cup. So, having played at the very top level, how tough will it be to adapt to League Two?
“Not a problem,” says Hasselbaink, with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “It’s the challenge, the project that excites me. That’s why I’m here at Burton Albion – it’s an exciting project.
“The club is well run, with a good chairman. The players are a good group, hungry. There’s a good atmosphere in the stadium, they have the right beliefs here at the club. And I believe it’s a club that’s going places. I’m fortunate to have this opportunity.”
I want to be the best manager.
He has been a manager before – for one season in the Belgian Second Division with Royal Antwerp. He won more games than he lost in that year, and the club wanted him to stay. But he refused to sign a new contract in June, because he felt the club didn’t match his ambition.
We watched Hasselbaink take training for the first time with his new players at St George’s Park – another thing that he says really appealed to him. “It’s a world-class facility, and it will be great to train there every day,” he beams. Within ten minutes of the players arriving, he’s removed three woolly hats from heads.
“Well, if they’re only going to run I don’t mind it,” he explains. “But we were doing some good battles, some heading, and I don’t think you can head with a woolly hat on”.
Maybe that hints at the type of manager Hasselbaink will be. He is charming, sophisticated and has the most disarming smile. He seems incredibly laid back, with timekeeping not his strong point. But underneath all that, lies a very competitive man with a quiet determination for things to be done his way. And the Hasselbaink way still demands that everyone – including the manager – enjoys themselves whilst playing the game that he’s always loved.
“That will be my intention. To enjoy it as much as I can.” The grin has gone now. “There may be some difficult times, but I never want to lose my smile from football. That’s not me. I have to be able to enjoy myself and bring that over to the players, and I want them to bring enjoyment to the fans.”
Hasselbaink is, of course, only the third black man to hold a manager’s job among the 92 Football League and Premier League clubs. So is he comfortable with the title of role model?
“I don’t see that,” he said. “I don’t wake up like that, live like that. Yes, I’m proud to be black, and I teach my kids to be the same. But I feel I am the right person for this job, not because I’m black and there aren’t enough black managers in the game. No. The chairman gave me the job because I’m the best man for the job. I want to be a role model for everybody, not just black people – white, black, whatever.”
He takes over a club that’s missed out in the League Two play offs for the last two seasons. Burton now sit fifth in the table. Unlike most new managers, he’s not taking over a team in crisis; one threatened with relegation. But he is taking over at a club that has ambition.
“It’s not important to me that the chairman said publically he doesn’t expect promotion this season – he said it publically and we had a joke about it. I know what I want to do, I will give everything, and I think I can be successful. So I didn’t really need the chairman to say about our goals publically. We need to win matches, and that’s what I will try to do.”
His new chairman, Ben Robinson, had over 60 applicants for the job, and consulted with the likes of Sir Trevor Brooking, Steve McClaren and Harry Redknapp before making his choice. And he’s sure he’s got the right man.
“What an inspirational character,” he purrs. “A lot of people may think we are paying him a fortune – I promise you, we are not. He certainly hasn’t come here for the money. But he’s come because he wants to get onto the managerial ladder, and he knows we have a good track record with young, up and coming coaches.”
That’s true. Hasselbaink’s predecessors include Gary Rowett, who’s now manager at Birmingham City in the Championship, and Nigel Clough, who left Burton for Derby County, again in the Championship. So what of Hasselbaink’s motivation, and his personal ambition?
“It’s a sport where it’s hard to let go,” he said. “But football is me. I love the game, and I want to stay in the game. And being a manager is the next best thing after playing football.
“I want to be the best manager, and I want to be as good as others, but let’s start here at Burton, get the positive vibe going that Gary (Rowett) and Nigel (clough) started. Let’s get promoted. Let’s achieve. Everything else, can wait until later.”
Watch our Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink feature in full on Soccer Saturday from 2pm on Sky Sports News HQ and Sky Sports 5
See Hasselbaink's team in action on Monday. Wycombe v Burton Albion, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7.30pm
