Two football men ........... Phil Giles and John Coleman
I do not really read any sports betting related content , only my own, which is always worth a quick re-read ! But I do watch/listen to/read a lot about sport in general and today I saw an article in The Times about Brentford joint director of Football Phil Giles and watched an interview with Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman and think that you will find both of interest.
To most within the game, Giles would be considered an "outsider", like many of us he grew up obsessed with the sport, played the game for fun whenever he could and gave his undying love to the local professional club, but never had an official role within football until last year. Coleman, is a "football man" and played the game for 20 years, almost exclusively at non league level and was one of the most prolific goalscorers in history, with over 500 goals to his name and it is incredible he never stepped up a level, as I am sure there were many offers. He has coached continously since retiring from playing and is in his second spell at Stanley, when he left after his first, he was the third longest serving manager in England (13 years) after Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. He has earned a living of sort from the sport for 36 years, since he was 17 years old, but football means so much more to him than a way to make a living.
I absolutely love the interview with Coleman, he is asked a single question and then talks for 5-6 minutes, you can almost taste his frustration with the draw and you can learn a LOT from snippets like these, but above all else, you can feel his total love for the game. I certainly learned I would not like to have been a Stanley player in the dressing room after the 1-1 draw with Cheltenham and I understand he gave them a very hard time, JC looks and is tough,he doesn't back down from anyone or anything and is not a man to cross lightly.
Giles came into the sport from a very different angle , but his story is certainly no less inspirational and more realistic a route into the game for people like him (and any of us), who were always more likely to trip over our own feet, than complete a Cruyff turn and I do have similarities with PG, including a love of maths, but I doubt he can match my claim to fame of having scored an overhead kick own goal, which is not as easy to do as you might think (thank you !) and marked an early end to a not very promising career !
My point is that Coleman is considered a "football man" and Giles is "not", that is wrong, both clearly have huge passion for the game, have followed it since the moment they could walk and each has a huge amount to contribute and there is room in football, which is a very different game nowadays, for both. These are also "our" stories and why the game is so all consuming to many of us.
Good Luck.
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