Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink relishes being tested as novice Burton manager

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/05/jimmy-floyd-hasselbaink-novice-manager-burton-albion

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Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink puffs out his cheeks as he reflects on his first couple of weeks in charge of Burton Albion and a chain of events that would test the most experienced managers in the business, let alone someone who describes himself as a novice.

The story starts on 13 November, the day the former Chelsea striker was unveiled as the League Two club’s manager and when Dean Lyness, the Burton goalkeeper, broke his leg in Hasselbaink’s first training session. “Crazy. A collision,” Hasselbaink says. “My centre-half with my goalkeeper, the ball 50-50, they give 100%, and they both think they could get it. We knew [it was broken] straight away.”

Four days later, at Wycombe Wanderers, in Hasselbaink’s first match since taking over from Gary Rowett, the team coach was stuck in traffic, arrived at the ground late and, after another mix-up, Burton ended up borrowing some playing kit from their opponents. “Everything was going wrong,” Hasselbaink says. “We stayed in Marlow [for pre-match food] at the Crowne Plaza. We came to the roundabout, chock-a-block. And I know that area really well because my wife was born in High Wycombe. I’m thinking: ‘This is not good.’

“We arrived at 10 to seven. Normally, you have at least 30-40 minutes to get undressed, get massages, speak, put the music on, relax. There was none of that. I was late getting the team sheet in, so we called it through from the coach. Then, coming to the stadium, my kitman says to me: ‘I’ve got a problem. We can’t wear our socks because the colours clash.’ I’m thinking: ‘Welcome.’”

Burton, playing in yellow shirts, black shorts and sky-blue Wycombe socks, won 3-1 and Hasselbaink’s managerial career in England was up and running on the back of the worst preparation possible. Those early trials and tribulations, however, were soon to be put into perspective.

Lydia Bennett, a 17-year-old who played for Burton Albion women’s team, collapsed and died at home on 4 November. Five days after the victory over Wycombe, Burton paid tribute to the teenager in Hasselbaink’s first home match, a 1-0 win over Luton Town. The funeral took place last Thursday.

“Very, very, very sad. I’m a father of an 18-year-old so …” Hasselbaink says, his voice trailing off as he shakes his head. “We went to the funeral, me and my assistant [David Oldfield] and the chairman [Ben Robinson] and a few players. I didn’t need to go but it was right somebody represented the club in the right way. I’m the manager of the club, I should be there. I didn’t know Lydia but as a club you need to show your condolences. It was really hard. The church was full, with a lot of young people – it doesn’t look right.”

The emotional scenes before the Luton game, when Lydia’s parents were on the pitch, touched Hasselbaink deeply. “It told me a lot about the club but it also told me a lot about Luton. They were magnificent. Their supporters, the silence, the respect they showed. And also our fans – it felt like we were like one. The community is very important for this club. We need to show we appreciate that and that we mourn with the family and her sisters, and she’s not forgotten, that they are still part of us.”

Listening to Hasselbaink talk sensitively at times, extremely passionately on another occasions, and with humility and honesty throughout, it is easy to see why Robinson – a man who gave Neil Warnock and Nigel Clough their break in management – was so impressed when he interviewed the Dutchman for a vacancy that attracted 60 applications.

Less obvious, at first glance, is why Hasselbaink, who was in charge of Royal Antwerp in the Belgian second division last season, was so interested in managing Burton. This, after all, is a man who played 23 times for Holland, appeared at a World Cup finals, sits 11th on the all-time Premier League goalscorers’ list, after scoring 127 times for Leeds United, Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Charlton, and cannot be short of a bob or two. Not that long ago he was driving a Bentley down the King’s Road.

Does he really have to do this job? “Yes, yes, because I want to, that’s why I have to,” Hasselbaink says, raising his voice a little and sounding almost affronted. “As a player, I had to come from far. I had to graft. I don’t mind grafting but I don’t see this as grafting, I see this as a good opportunity. You can go to League One or the Championship and they don’t have as good a job as I have. The training facilities [at St George’s Park] are not going to be better. They might have more money to spend on players. They might be working with technically better players but that’s it.”

While some managers like to bang on about a distinguished playing career, Hasselbaink, whose family home is in Surrey, views what happened in the past as irrelevant. “I don’t talk about it. Never. The other day we were driving to the game at Wycombe and there were goals of mine on Sky on the team coach. I was embarrassed. I know it’s me, but  ... it’s gone. We don’t have to talk about when I was a player. I have to earn my right as a manager, as a coach.”

For Hasselbaink, whose fourth-placed Burton travel to Exeter on Saturday, earning his right has nothing to do with the colour of his skin. The 42-year-old is one of three black managers across the 92 League clubs but it is not a statistic or subject he dwells on. “I applied for this job because I am the right person. I didn’t apply because I’m black. I know the chairman has given me the job because he thinks I’m the best man for it. That’s it.

“We can talk about me being black – I’m proud to be black. My kids are going to have my black culture in a way and I want that because we’re black. I’m not going to hide that and I don’t want to hide that. But I don’t think when I get out of my bed: ‘Oh, I’m black, I need to do this, I need to do that.’”

Straight-talking, no nonsense, Hasselbaink tells it how it is and he had no qualms with the managers who took that approach with him. He speaks with great fondness about George Graham, who signed him for Leeds in 1997 – “I really love that man. He was the biggest personality in that team, he was the boss” – and is hugely respectful of Louis van Gaal, his former Holland coach. “Very intimidating but very fair and very loving. And that all goes in one. If you keep on doing things wrong, he will pinpoint you. If you do it good, he will also tell you that you did it good. He’s also got a soft side to him that you don’t see. If you go and speak to him, he’s very open. He’s a good man.”

Then there is Steve McClaren, whom Hasselbaink played for at Middlesbrough, coached under at Nottingham Forest and sought advice from before taking over at Burton. “Best English coach there is. Fact. Because he can coach. He can make players better. He went with the modern game. He’s not still there, where he was 10 years ago when he was at Middlesbrough, where he was also successful. He has evolved.”

Hasselbaink is also a different man. The swashbuckling striker who mastered the art of scoring recognises he has everything to prove as a manager, which is why he has no time for the idea that working at League Two level is beneath him. “What does that mean: ‘Too big for that’? If I was José Mourinho and I would come to Burton, then you can say something. I know my role. I know who I am, I know what I have done but as a manager, I consider myself a novice.”