Brilliant Allen Article

[Babylon]

http://www.myreader.co.uk/msg/1230451.aspx

[Malinki]

It happened because he listened to their banter during training.

"It was my first away game in charge against Hartlepool. They were in a

play-off position, we hadn't won away for God knows how long. We went to

train in a little park when we got up there and as we were jogging along I

heard the players challenge each other. They said they'd have a whip-round -

£10 a man - for anyone that dived into the river. But no one would.

"I stopped them eventually. I said, 'I've been listening to you for 20

minutes and no one's been man enough to take the challenge. I'll show you.'

I walked round to the other side of the river over a bridge, stripped off my

clothes and took a deep breath. There were Coke cans and crisp wrappers and

holes in the river bank where the rats were. I dived in, swam as hard as I

could to the other side and walked into our hotel dripping wet in my shorts.

I came down at 7.15 in a collar and tie. All the players went silent. I

asked the captain for the money and he handed 160 quid.

"I said, 'It's no good talking about challenges. If you say you're going to

swim it, swim it'." The next day, Brentford beat Hartlepool 2-1 away.

Brilliant, thats just the mentallity we need to instill in the side - don't talk the talk, walk the walk

[foxad]

This is literally hilarious.....

http://www.myreader.co.uk/msg/1230451.aspx

Great piece in the Telegraph about Martin Allen and Brentford (must read)

All you could hear, on approaching Brentford's training ground, was a wild

burst of barking dog. An opinionated black labrador puppy hoved into view,

encouraging a visitor to get in his car. This brought an answering burst of

barking from inside the modest building.

"Monty! Monty! Shut up, Monty!" Ah, this must be the manager we have heard

so much about. It was indeed. Monty's owner and Brentford's saviour are one

and the same: the redoubtable, eccentric and (no argument) successful,

former footballer and gardener, Martin Allen.

He is a bit special, as they say in the game. In this case, not for a huge

talent that he used to display on the pitch (for Queens Park Rangers, West

Ham and Portsmouth) but for the intensity of his struggle to be there at

all. He was a worker, not a shirker. He is the same as a manager now.

Only 40, Allen has inspired his little team of freebies, kids and off-cuts

to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup today against Charlton.

Instantly, you can see why. He sits at his minimal desk, behind a huge bag

of Pedigree dog food and transfixes you with a pair of blue eyes that blaze

with belief and ambition.

Here is the speech: "Charlton . have you got that tape on?" Yes, I assured

him, checking nervously. He started again. "Charlton have just beaten the

Champions League champions. Charlton have just drawn away with the Premier

League champions. Charlton have not conceded a goal at the Valley in six

games. Charlton have a manager who has a great chance of managing our

country.

"My lot: free transfers. Rejects. A manager that three years ago was

collecting leaves for a living. What chance have we really got?" There is a

huge pause. Allen's eyebrows rise expressively and stay risen. He

dramatically says no more. You can tell he thinks his team have every chance

because life rewards effort and, by God, he gives effort.

Everyone knows the story of his dive into a river in Hartlepool to recommend

himself, and his methods, to the Brentford team two years ago. You can only

imagine how stunned they would have been when the manager stripped down to

his shorts, and in full view of goggle-eyed, sniggering children on their

way home from school, dived headlong into the rubbish-and-rat-infested water

on a freezing cold day to prove his point.

It happened because he listened to their banter during training.

"It was my first away game in charge against Hartlepool. They were in a

play-off position, we hadn't won away for God knows how long. We went to

train in a little park when we got up there and as we were jogging along I

heard the players challenge each other. They said they'd have a whip-round -

£10 a man - for anyone that dived into the river. But no one would.

"I stopped them eventually. I said, 'I've been listening to you for 20

minutes and no one's been man enough to take the challenge. I'll show you.'

I walked round to the other side of the river over a bridge, stripped off my

clothes and took a deep breath. There were Coke cans and crisp wrappers and

holes in the river bank where the rats were. I dived in, swam as hard as I

could to the other side and walked into our hotel dripping wet in my shorts.

I came down at 7.15 in a collar and tie. All the players went silent. I

asked the captain for the money and he handed 160 quid.

"I said, 'It's no good talking about challenges. If you say you're going to

swim it, swim it'." The next day, Brentford beat Hartlepool 2-1 away.

The thing is, Allen was out of work once and the memory stays with him.

Sacked by Alan Ball as coach of Portsmouth reserves seven years ago, he

suddenly had no income. "I wasn't educated to go into the normal working

world. I wondered how to afford the petrol for the car.

"That's when I knew how much £160 mattered. The tree in the garden with the

gold coins hanging on it, the good money from playing football, had been cut

down. The money to go on holidays, buy clothes, get take-aways - all gone.

My vision of the future was all gloomy.

"Months later, when Alan Pardew phoned me and asked me to become Reading's

reserve coach, I was collecting leaves in Gerrard's Cross in black bags in

people's gardens for 10 pounds an hour."

He seems quite proud of this past and has every reason to be so. It put food

on the table and sent the children through school. He comes from

working-class stock who believed in hard graft. On one side of the family,

many of the men were East End dockers. On the other side, his grandfather

took his place on the Jarrow March. Allen's father, Dennis, began his

working life as a worker at Ford's car plant in Dagenham but via

professional football at - coincidentally - Charlton and Reading, he went on

to become one of the FA's top coaches.

"When I was 10, dad was appointed manager of Cheltenham. One night a week I

went with him and joined training. Mum had the hump about it. But I sat in

on all the team meetings, I went on the team bus to matches, I sat on the

bench during matches.

I spent three years watching and listening.

"I loved it when they won. I had to hide when they lost. Dad hated losing. I

can't bear losing either. Whether it's at head tennis in training or

Monopoly with the children, if I lose, it hits me hard. It really does."

The door to the manager's office opens suddenly and a gentleman's head peers

round. "Hallo," it says, "sorry to interrupt. Are the guys not training

today? Only I've brought my boys to see them." Allen seems entirely unfazed

by this invasion. "You a supporter?" he asks.

What would Sir Alex Ferguson do in this position? Call security? A fan loose

in the innermost sanctum of a football club: it is unthinkable. "Bring your

boys in," says Allen. And in they come, twins, Carl and Josh, aged five, in

Brentford shirts, along with their mother.

Monty investigates them and, satisfied, trots back to his master.

Training is always open to supporters here. "As long as they keep their

opinions to themselves and as long as they keep private what I do in

training, they're very welcome. I've picked out a supporter called Old

George, who makes the tea, and the players are encouraged to talk to them

all. It makes the players see how important the club is to the people. The

players aren't detached from the supporters here. They're combined. It's as

one."

This is almost romantic, but Allen couldn't do such a thing at a big club,

could he? "Why?" he asked defiantly. Well, he'd be swamped with fans, I

reason. Furthermore, how would he get all those multi-millionaires to

co-operate? "Wouldn't sign them. Or sell 'em," he said. "Don't matter who

the player is. They're only people. I don't go along with this

multi-millionaire, chauffeur-driven, massive watches and flash car crap.

Nearly all those players - I know where they've come from. I can assure you

they ain't come from five-bedroomed detached houses with swimming pools and

snooker tables. They come from hard-working backgrounds just like me. Why

should they forget their roots?

"Why would you want to be with someone who doesn't want to talk to a

supporter? Because he's got a £25,000 watch and a flash car? That's a load

of rubbish. Don't mean you can't talk to someone."

It is all becoming clearer. Brentford, almost bust, are buzzing. Their track

record in the last two years utterly belies the parlous state of their

finances. They reached the play-offs last season and lie third this season

(with games in hand). They reached the fifth round of the FA Cup last

season, losing to Premiership opposition.

They have reached the fifth round again this year, beating Premiership

opposition last time out in Sunderland. Brentford, it must be said, were the

better team. DJ Campbell moved to Birmingham on the strength of the display.

"That wasn't the price of success, him moving. That was a reward. A reward

to all of us. It said: it's achievable." All this with no money.

"We've got one of the lowest budgets in the League," Allen explained. "Ain't

got no Russians here. Only thing Russian we've got is half a bottle of vodka

in the boardroom. Fact. That's probably out of the date. We have to scrimp

and save for everything".

One of these scrimping episodes was televised a couple of months ago, when

Allen embarked on a sponsored cycle ride to raise desperately-needed funds

to play the players' wages. A director had told him the club faced

administration. "I could have sat at home and had 10 points deducted or I

could have done something." He did something. He cycled from Maidenhead via

Slough to Brentford along the A4, and made £22,000.

The money poured in from football fans countrywide and even from some

Premiership managers. Sir Alex sent him a personal cheque for £450.

Alan Pardew contributed. "I also know all the clubs in the Premiership that

blanked me," Allen said, ominously.

He doesn't forget much. He met Sven Goran Eriksson once at the BBC Sports

Personality of the Year Awards. "I invited him to Brentford on the quiet. He

said, 'Who's Brentford? Where are they? What division are they in?' I looked

him straight in the eye, paused and said, 'Goodbye'. I wanted to say

something else but thought I'd better not."

In his playing days, Allen's reputation was certainly not one of restraint.

He was up before the Football Association at Lancaster Gate on - as he puts

it - "numerous occasions for being naughty".

It is one of his dreams to be summoned to Soho Square one day "for them to

say I've been a good boy". He means working with England, but doesn't say

so. The eyebrows are doing the talking again. What on earth would the modern

FA make of this man? On one hand, there is nobody more dedicated. When it

looked as though he might not make it as a player, during his apprentice

days under youth team coach George Graham at QPR, his dad enrolled him at an

athletics and boxing gym to build him up. He worked for three years as a hod

carrier on a building site. Yet he was also the player who would turn up in

West Ham's dressing room wearing a pair of pink baseball boots. Harry

Redknapp would shake his head. "You'd better do it, mate. You'd better do

it."

He doesn't like being called mad. "The people that call me mad, they make me

smile. They're shallow. There was a football club chairman that refused to

interview me for a job because he said I was mad. Fact. He knows, and I

know, who he is. But before you form an opinion of someone you've got to get

to know them."

Brentford have got to know Allen. They give him a standing ovation before

every game and that probably includes the financial director as well. When

he was being interviewed for the job, he was asked what he wanted as a

salary. He said he wanted a car and six tickets every match.

The salary he would leave up to them. "The wife went mad," he conceded. "But

I just want to be happy in my work".

His father, Dennis, died nine years ago. "But he's here every game. I still

sometimes put tickets in an envelope in his name and leave them at the

ticket window." His eyes swim with unshed tears. He stops talking for a

while.

His mum, Janet, despite a recent course of chemotherapy, is going to

Charlton today with the rest of the family. She is the one who taught him

basic civility: if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.

"Bambi," I said, in instant recognition. "Yeah, great film," he answered,

lighting up. "Good morals in that. And as for Fox and the Hound ."

He was off and running again. Like Brentford.

[breadandcheese]

That is a great article. If Martin Allen lives up to that article, I can't wait. With that sort of attitude, I think he'll be absolutely perfect for some of our younger players who seem to be looking to live it up with their new found wealth.

I think/hope that next season, we have some completely changed players who have underperformed no-end.

[Guest Gist]

I invited him to Brentford on the quiet. He

said, 'Who's Brentford? Where are they? What division are they in?' I looked

him straight in the eye, paused and said, 'Goodbye'. I wanted to say

something else but thought I'd better not."

I like the sound of him, he seems just the right bloke to get the current bunch of players playing to the standards expected!

[The Reverend]

I invited him to Brentford on the quiet. He

said, 'Who's Brentford? Where are they? What division are they in?' I looked

him straight in the eye, paused and said, 'Goodbye'. I wanted to say

something else but thought I'd better not."

I like the sound of him, he seems just the right bloke to get the current bunch of players playing to the standards expected!

That is absoloute quality. I love this bloke already!

[Thracian]

I must say I love some of those quote. Reminds me of Bill Shankly - and no-one has ever reminded me of him.

[James.]

However he does as our manager what's clear already is he is a good man with principles. A rarity in today's footballing world. He certainly has my respect.

[blue blood]

I think, No Im sure this man will get our players playing up to the standard they are capable of, and i think i will go so far as saying maybe even above the standard they are capable of. We have all seen glimpses of what the players can do - now imagine that on a regular basis with 8-10 of the worse players in our squad being replaced by players that will be 8-10 of the best in the squad.

[blue blood]

However he does as our manager what's clear already is he is a good man with principles. A rarity in today's footballing world. He certainly has my respect.

I agree he comes over as a very mature man for 41 years old.

[Bryn]

He'll certainly seperate the man from the boys. Reading that I'm actually not arsed about how we play, he just fills me with confidence that he will try to win in every concievable way. He's what we need.

[Daggers]

He'll certainly seperate the man from the boys.

What'll Thracian do then?

[Don't call me Mad Dog]

However he does as our manager what's clear already is he is a good man with principles. A rarity in today's footballing world. He certainly has my respect.

Used to think like you, but not quite so sure these days.

If you mean he demands a work ethic then yes - the Leicester team will definitely be fitter than they were.

But if you mean its about morals and he who tries hardest gets the rewards, then don't be so sure.

Warts and all, Martin Allen does it his way and does what suits him and no-one else. He WILL stick to his guns regardless, whether its working or not, and this could eventully be his undoing. In the meantime, the players will sort of know where they stand. Allen has a one-track-mind and its very difficult to convince him to change it.

[Thracian]

Used to think like you, but not quite so sure these days.

If you mean he demands a work ethic then yes - the Leicester team will definitely be fitter than they were.

But if you mean its about morals and he who tries hardest gets the rewards, then don't be so sure.

Warts and all, Martin Allen does it his way and does what suits him and no-one else. He WILL stick to his guns regardless, whether its working or not, and this could eventully be his undoing. In the meantime, the players will sort of know where they stand. Allen has a one-track-mind and its very difficult to convince him to change it.

We seem to choose those sorts of managers.

Discipline, self-belief and strong leadership are one thing - but being dogmatic is another and a serious weakness at the higher levels where the other managers work hard, are good psychologists and pay attention to detail.

Good commanders keep an open mind, weigh all the options, consider alternatives with a good grace and then show their gold-star qualities by closing the debate, making the right decisions and ensuring everyone is then focused on the same end.

[l444ry]

Used to think like you, but not quite so sure these days.

If you mean he demands a work ethic then yes - the Leicester team will definitely be fitter than they were.

But if you mean its about morals and he who tries hardest gets the rewards, then don't be so sure.

Warts and all, Martin Allen does it his way and does what suits him and no-one else. He WILL stick to his guns regardless, whether its working or not, and this could eventully be his undoing. In the meantime, the players will sort of know where they stand. Allen has a one-track-mind and its very difficult to convince him to change it.

Three play-off places in three years of management. Why would he want to change anything? It if ain't broke ...don't fix it!!

[He's not bald]

Three play-off places in three years of management. Why would he want to change anything? It if ain't broke ...don't fix it!!

Having read the article and just listened to him on the radio I think the bloke is a top geezer...only 11 weeks and I can't wait!

[Jordan]

Martin Allen is a ridiculous fellow and I love it.

When I read the part about Allen leaving the tickets aside for his dead father, I didn't know whether or not to laugh at the whole thing or get on the next plane to East Midlands Airport so that I could give our new manager a man-hug complete with back slap.

Allen is probably my new favorite character. He's an amalgam of every coach from every inspirational sports film. He's larger than life. He's gonna take Leicester places--if not to the Premier League, perhaps Hollywood.

[Jay]

Martin Allen is a ridiculous fellow and I love it.

When I read the part about Allen leaving the tickets aside for his dead father, I didn't know whether or not to laugh at the whole thing or get on the next plane to East Midlands Airport so that I could give our new manager a man-hug complete with back slap.

Allen is probably my new favorite character. He's an amalgam of every coach from every inspirational sports film. He's larger than life. He's gonna take Leicester places--if not to the Premier League, perhaps Hollywood.

Well you know that's long overdue!!!

[Jordan]

sigh

"Long overdue" is an understatement!

[Jay]

sigh

"Long overdue" is an understatement!

well theres hardly been much to encourage you to make the trip over the past few years though!!