Nick Montgomery edit

Sun, Sep 17, 2023 7:06PM • 37:42

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

players, team, mariners, club, coach, plays, championship, season, game, belief, learning, years, sheffield united, day, football, nick, win, work, people, great

SPEAKERS

Paul Barnett, Nick Montogomery

Paul Barnett 00:00

Nik Montgomery. Good evening and welcome to the Great coach's podcast.

Nick Montogomery 00:05

Thank you. Really nice to get the invite on and looking forward to the conversation.

Paul Barnett 00:10

Well, keen to chat with you all things. Soccer as well. I know you're just back from Thailand. Should we call it football? I guess we should call it soccer given that we're in Australia.

Nick Montogomery 00:19

Now as football is the number one sport think media now you'll see everybody's getting behind on and yes, definitely the number one sport. Now Australia is a beautiful country. So many fantastic sports. And obviously the media really like to lift up the other the other chords and yeah, hopefully after the World Cup and the Women's World Cup things are improving in that in that.

Paul Barnett 00:42

All right, well, it's football. And every time I say soccer, it will be a small fine, which I will gladly pay into the, into the pool box at the church. But Nick, can I just start with something simple? Where are you in the world? And what have you been doing so far today?

Nick Montogomery 00:58

So I'm on the Central Coast, which is in New South Wales, about an hour and a half from Sydney. I've been here 11 years since since moving up from the UK. And today I actually had a day off. So really was just doing some preparation work for tomorrow's session. Some analysis from a few the preseason trial games that we've had, and my wife had me cutting the grass and jet washing the front of the house. So yeah, usual day off. Everything but putting my feet up and relaxing.

Paul Barnett 01:28

Well, thank you for spending some time with us on your day off. I know this is probably not what you expected to do. But I do appreciate it because I've been keen to hear your story for quite a while Nick. And potentially I could start by name checking some of the myths, a couple of legends in here. There's people that are great coaches that you've had firsthand experience with this, Chris Wilder, Bryan Robson, Neil Warnock, there's a there's a few just to kick us off. But you've also played all around the world. And I'm just keen to hear, Nick from this experience. What is it you think the great coaches do differently that sets them apart?

Nick Montogomery 02:03

That's probably say their word man management, if that's one word or two words, but I just think the way that people manage the staff, the players, the group as a whole, I think that's probably the most important aspect of the successful leaders and coaches in any sport. And that's something that I really try hard over the years to learn from the good ones that I worked with. And he mentioned a few then, as well as I've been fortunate to have to spend time in Mike feeling and people of that caliber. So yeah, it's just amazing to share experiences and to to learn from people like that.[PB1] [PB2]

Paul Barnett 02:42

Well, we're going to talk about some of the things that you've learned on that journey. But I'd like to go back if I can to 2012 And I guess the context for the question is that my parents emigrated to Australia as well in 1977. And that prompted me to then properly leave Australia and spend 16 years outside of the country but I'm back but either way I do understand how big a decision it is to leave home. And I guess I'd like to start by saying by asking you what was going through your mind when you move to Australia back in 2012?

Nick Montogomery 03:16

To be honest, it was something that I'd always thought during football careers a short career we talking 1520 years maximum and now I'd spent 15 years Sheffield United from from a schoolboy 16 years old to breaking into the first team 18 And then 14 appearances there. Now 15 years there i i just found myself you know become a dad. Two beautiful twin daughters that were pom pom Perimetral were in and out of hospital for 12 months the first 12 months of their life and then the I got to that period in my life on a fire. I think it's time that I left Sheffield United now and see what's out there and October always had a relationship with essential customers through Kevin McCabe who was the original one that the original to the long standing owners of Sheffield United a great man. And yeah, we've had players from the mariners come over and train with as young players and we've always had that connection. So had quite a few options on the table, championship League One MLS. And then the Marlins was an option that came up, they were looking for a midfielder that never won the championship. And that failed a few times in the final and your sponsor Graham Arnold at the time and Lori McKenna, who was the CEO of the football management, a great guy still on the center of cost now, a big advocate of mine and a mentor for me. And yeah, I was in a three year contract and I went home to my wife and said, I think we're gonna move to Australia and she was she was shocked because I'd had so many opportunities to leave Sheffield On July 8, to go down south, you know, two clubs down south and, you know, up to Scotland and I've never moved anywhere. And all of a sudden I'm telling to move into the other side of the world. So lucky was a moment where I think we just thought, why not? You know, I was 30 years old. And I felt like if I didn't move at that point, possibly, I would have missed that opportunity. And just so happens that that first year, I came over, held the club when it's made in championship league championship, and it seemed like the best decision I've ever made. And that sort of cemented the decision that I've made. And yeah, obviously, it was refreshing to come to different country and a different culture and for the standard ad was was really good. So really enjoyed the first 711 years later, I'm still here,

Paul Barnett 05:49

living by the beach up there in the Central Coast, which we, for those that don't know, it really is a pretty special place to live. But Nick, your your playing career is interesting in that there's a lot of opportunity around learning from these critical matches, I could find five finals games in one relegation game in your whole career. But the other interesting thing is you lost all of the I'm wondering what learning you took from that, that you've then ended up going on and applying when you became a coach?

Nick Montogomery 06:22

Oh, I think that experiences that you learn as a player and with the coaches, and the people that you work with, are limited, they molded you into the person that you are and mold you into the culture that you are and you want to be. And because you take the good things and you get rid of the bad things, but you know, ultimately, you always have to be yourself. And that's that's one bit of advice I've always been given by the Bible parents and when people close to me is you know, just be yourself. And I think you learn from defeats for sure people say all the time, but you do you learn a lot about yourself and a lot about everybody else in times when it's hard and had some amazing times. [PB3]

Sheffield United. So unlucky in the playoffs, it was think twice, we finished third in the championship, just missed out on automatic promotion. And I think if you look at the stats of team that finished teams that finished third, you know, in terms of going up through the playoffs, it's very, very minimal now because the teams that just squeezing fifth or sixth on the last day of the season, now they come in with momentum and no pressure and expectation and the reality is that the player final in the championship is the biggest high pressure game in the world. Because the bonus at the end of it is a space in the Premier League. So yeah, very lucky a few times in the Championship playoff final. And then the only season that Sheffield United were relegated. I spent a lot of time out. Because the twins were just born. I was in hospital quite a lot with them and missed a lot of football went along to Millwall first time I'd ever gone on anyway, they were back in the championship but watching the tama calf pretty badly, which I've never done before. I think that was just a result of of not training and not playing much. And then back to Sheffield United got fit. And I think I was fit training for 10 days before the playoff final. Kevin MacDonald had a fantastic season in midfield got injured. And I started the game is a game against Huddersfield, the bad game. Remember, it was at Wembley really hot, I think 80 90,000 people in the stadium and finished nil nil. And then we lost on penalties. And yeah, that was a moment that I sort of knew that I had to move on. And I needed a change mentally and for the family and and that's when the opportunity came to come to the search cost murders in Australia. So we could probably spend a few hours talking about all the good times at Sheffield United and the cook. Cook runs the semifinals. And you know, the fantastic times out there, but definitely a couple of tough times.

And as a coach, I think you really take from them hard times because as a player, you can sense that it's not going well. And maybe the coach has lost a group for whatever reason. And I think, you know, management always is the main reason. Because you have to manage the group the players and in the hard times, that's when you know you do get tested. And that's when the culture that you create as a head coach and your standards that you drive. If you don't keep keep to them, then I've seen it very quickly go the wrong way. And yeah, definitely take a lot of learnings from more from the hard times and from the times where you have success because Yeah, sort of enjoying that journey and you look back on it afterwards. But you know, how do you get out of tough situations and how to manage the team and this plays in the stuff out with them. That's something that I've really researched a lot on and try to take a lot from my own experiences.[PB4]

Paul Barnett 10:00

Want to talk to you about the culture that's emerged at the mariners. But first, can I just ask you a little bit more? You talked in that answer there about low expectations, you know, when teams are fifth and sixth and pushing up, and you mentioned bad management again, both of these things played out in the mariners story with a tremendous victory last year. But before we get to what happened? Let's get back to the start, what was some of the first things you did when you stepped into that role that helped propel the team forward?

Nick Montogomery 10:33

Well, right back to when I saw started coaching in the mariners Academy, you know, the club was not producing players, the Academy had a bad reputation. And you know that the first thing I wanted to do is strip it all back and rebuild the academy implemented Sports Science, Sports Psychology, in O'Brien, a guy called Easy Oh, that's still working with the first team now that was involved last season, no player support, stuff that wasn't in the academy and stuff that I knew, as a young player, especially this generation, that you need the extra support, because of the pressures that you've come under as a young player, as you go through the ranks. So once I've rebuilt the academy, and started producing plays for the first team, which had not happened in a long time, then to get the first team head coach role, you know, really was just to carry on what I'd started in the academy and bring the young players through that I believed could compete at the elite level. And when you're at the club with a smallest budget, and to be honest, it was, when I took over the job, there was very little left in the budget, I think we had to bring in eight players to make the roster, the legal requirements. And the budget was about a quarter of the budget left. So if you do the maths on that, it was virtually impossible to bring in seasoned professionals. That was never my remit, I always wanted to bring in the young players and players, I hadn't even trained with the first team onto minimum elite contracts. And the likes of Jacob Farrell, Max bilott, dan Hall plays a big play in the last few years. So that was my first job. And then it was to manage the group monies, the senior players that that were already there.

And then yeah, just to without being in a crazy rush to implement my own playstyle and a new identity for the club, which I think is always a reflection of you as a leader and a coach, because I think the team will always reflect who you are as a person in your beliefs in football. And as I said, with the sports psychology and stuff like that, I brought the staff that had been working in the academy, you know, people would never give them an opportunity in the first team and also brought them into the first team fold. And really, you know, we just continued what we started in the academy. And it was it was it was refreshing for everybody.

And you have to have the siege mentality at a club, like the Central Coast mariners because you know, you don't have the resources or the budget that most clubs have in the daily competition. But you have to instill belief that that's relative, and you know, you, you can challenge everybody, if you made the players believe and I believe that within two years, we could win the championship. And fortunately, a lot of Psychic Force thing that happened. And there's a lot of factors that go into that, and a lot of people and stuff that you know that that without name and everybody that played a huge part in that.[PB5]

Paul Barnett 13:37

You talked in there about use words to the effect of being sort of clear on what you stood for and what the identity I think was the word you used to the club was going to be? Did you actually take the time to record any electoral write it down and work with it? Or was it something that you just developed as you were meeting people and interacting with them?

Nick Montogomery 13:55

Okay, I've got an assistant Sergio rimando, who you've probably seen, I met him many years ago when I started coaching badges in the UK. And he's a amazing human, a fantastic coach. And between us, we, we sort of create a new game model for the club and player profiles of what we needed. Because the reality is you can have a vision of how he wants to play but if you don't have the players to suit the way he wants to play, then you have to adapt and we probably did that in the first season. We adapted in terms of how we played what formation we played and the plays that we had. And then you saw the implemented you know, after results you saw the implemented and yeah brought through a lot of the younger players I really believed and I probably got off key actually there with the question of forgot

Nick Montogomery 15:13

Yeah. So again, I remember what he said, Now, we create a game model, in terms of what I wanted to be as a coach, I want to be really clear on that. And, you know, I always wanted to be a development coach. And that doesn't mean just developing young players, it means developing senior players and working with them, individually position specific terms, to make them better players. But first and foremost, make them better people.

And that's why I think the human element is the most important thing. Because, you know, when you talk about money management, you have to know your players, you have to know, what makes them tick, you know, you have to know some players, like an arm around them, some players like a kick up the backside. And I think, you know, when you know the players intimately, and you understand how they work, and, you know, how, how can you help with that? Well, you know, I've got sports psychologists, that that does surveys, and, you know, we ask a lot of the players about their goals and goal setting. And from them answers, you know, you can get a lot of a psychological profile from each player of what what they ambition is, you know, what they want from the season, and that really does help you, you know, when you're trying to motivate them individually, because not everybody is motivated the same way. And that's that human element, where, you know, when we, when we wrote down at the start, what we want it to do and implement it was, it was that culture where it's a learning environment, and, and everybody's becoming a better person. And now, I believe people can change. And I've proven that with some of the plays outside where people told me not to sign them. And you see that that's not the case, you know, you can change people.

And if you change the world for the better, and coach them, and spend the time to make them a better player, then the results are always on the field. And I think you can see that last season, by the end of the season, we, we became champions, but we also weren't that team at the start of the season, we've developed that over the course of the season.[PB6] [PB7]

Paul Barnett 17:18

It's interesting, though, learning about the team and watching it unfold in real time, because as you said, you had some individuals who reinvented themselves at the mariners, but there was also an amazing connection within the group, like, there was so much change. And yet the cohesion was in advance of the amount of time they played together. And wondering, we see are any, any top tips or something you learned through that process that you could share with us?

Nick Montogomery 17:51

I always wanted to be honest, you know, as a coach, and that's something that we that we always spoke about when we had the family values that the players wrote themselves, you know, so I think if you ask the group to write, you know, what their values are, as a as a collective, then that's the values that they have to live by. And I think creating that, that just that family environment, where you know, everybody's coming from different places, we have young players who are starting their career senior players, trying to resurrect their career. But you know, the ultimate goal is, if we're successful, then everybody benefits from that, and making the boys understand that, but also, keeping everybody honest. And you know, being honest with them. Because always, as a coach, I always felt the best way that I was motivated was when the coaches were honest, to me, no good, bad, or indifferent. I really, really respected that and appreciate that. And I think, the human element of that the players really do, and I'm always honest with them, whether they like it or not, and I think they respect that. [PB8] [PB9]

But yeah, you have to create that culture. And you have to create that. That environment where people come in and wants to enjoy training on when you're leading into the game on a weekend, like the game is the endpoint, you know, what you do in the week is, it's about working hard and enjoying it and improving. And then hoping that you get the result on the weaker weekend, which is never guaranteed. But as long as the boys put the effort in, and you can see that that the intention is there for for following the game plan that you've created in the weakest. That's all you can ask.

And after the game, just reviewing the game and, and learning from the things that you need to learn from moving on to the next game, and you know, not not dwelling too much because in sport, there's always the next game. And I always found that the coaches that dwell too much on the result, you know, going into the next game, you're always still got that same result on your mind or the last game but he doesn't have time for that you have to, you know, review and put that game behind and move forward because the next game is the most important[PB10]

Paul Barnett 20:00

Nik Do you have any routines you use to get that debrief that review done, and then move on quickly?

Nick Montogomery 20:09

Yeah, so we always try to have the day off after the game, because, you know, I don't always believe that, that in the emotion of, of after the game is always the right time to have a massive conversation, I think, you know, a quick debrief after the game, hopefully you win the game the boys can enjoy that moment you lose the game, the boys can reflect on that, but then, you know, the day off the next day to digest everything and go over their video and the other analysis. And then I've got fantastic stuff in the analysis that, you know, we between as we review the game, you know, we get the clips, the powerful clips to show them, the good stuff, the bad stuff. And the next day we deliver that, go through the review. And then yeah, we sort of move on from there and use the rest of the week to just go through individually with the players, because I think a lot of players are visual learners. And, you know, the technology now is so advanced that you can, at the click of a button have have clips from every player. And then some players, really driven by learning from watching what they did well, what they could do better, and what that's time consuming, as well. So, you know, between myself, Sergio, knee analysis stuff we try to, we try to go through individual stuff quickly, with the players through the week, because before you know it, you're reviewing the next opponent. And yeah, I think having that structure, your boys enjoy that. Because you know what the weekend sales and not the main thing is a building that whole week for the following game? And how are you going to win that game, because it's always about trying to win the game and finding solutions to beat your opposition.[PB11]

Paul Barnett 21:52

Make you You were quite ill, in your teen years, it affected your career at one stage. And I know your mum got on a letter writing campaign and managed to get you another chance. But I'm sure that that struggle is manifest itself now and the way that you think about the situation that the team is often facing, but at the same time just learning about you, you're very keen on supporting youth and pushing you through and you've talked about it in this interview giving them a go. But there must be this fine line between not supporting youth to the extent where they develop a sense of entitlement, and they think they're just gonna get a go, because they're young. But also finding that line where you challenge them. And I'm just wondering how you went about that over the last couple of seasons with the Marines?

Nick Montogomery 22:38

So that's a really good question. Because I think a lot of young players these days are always in a rush, you know, they always think they should be in the first team. But the reality of it is, you know, you have to expose them at the right times. And quite often, it's a real reality check for some players that possibly doing well in the MPL, and you bring them a champion, the first team and it's it's a different level, you know, it's it's a completely different level. And, you know, sometimes by exposing them to that, you know, you see very quickly and myself and Sergio Was he very quickly the plays that we feel can develop into first team plays. And if you see very quickly the ones that you think are going to struggle, but then it's about how do you accelerate their development. And that's something that we're we do a lot of work on at the mariners, because reality is, you know, young plays in Austria, they don't play enough games at youth level, they have big periods with no games. So you bringing them in to a first team environment where physically there may be way off it tactically, mentally, but the only way to get them up to speed is to have them training with the first team and accelerate their development as a player as a person with the sport psychology and everything that we do. Because it's not easy. No, but I think, again, I'm not sports, psychology stuff, sports are good people, what, by overloading their brains and giving them tasks that they have to find solutions for, at times, they find it really difficult at the start. But some will naturally just take your own and others will, some will really struggle. But ultimately, you know, you have to have him in that that first team environment to development.

You know, that's why we've had so much success because you have to take risks. And you know, I came from the generation where you'd have seen your first team players that wouldn't want to know the young players training with you. Because they probably see that the energy that they bring is threatened into that position in the team. And I had that when I first took over at the mariners you know, I'd seen the players telling me that you know, there's too many young players train with the first team and you know, then they're messing the session up and stuff and I was just remember saying that that's that's not your your choice. And reality is you won't be long before they're taken over you And then, you know that that that happened, without going into, into full details. Because I knew that, you know, as a club, the mariners needed to be a club that develop young players, because if you have the smallest budget, you need to develop your own players. And the only way to do that is entering the first team, because without having the experience of training with the best players and physically competing against them, you know, it's very, very hard to catch up physically. So yeah, that that, you know, that was a risk I took. And, yeah, I think you know, the results from that were players playing in the first team. We've got more plays in youth national teams now than than ever before. And we've sold more plays overseas than any of our AD team. You know, in the last two years. It's been phenomenal to see the players go to top level clubs in Europe, you know, Premier League Bundesliga championship? SPL, no, they only go to them leagues if they're physically capable of competing in them leagues, and that's the biggest gap that plays in Australia struggle with[PB12]

Paul Barnett 26:07

the mariners story is a great underdog story. And there's many, many people listening I mean, most of us are in whether it's a company that's coming second or third, you know, or we're, we're in teams that aren't consistently winning. Many of us are in that position, you know, where we've got a small budget, and we're fighting fighting to compete. So what have you learned? What's the secret sauce, that creates creator, good underdog team?

Nick Montogomery 26:35

Think again, that the the underdog targets is love, there's always clubs are the underdog, but the miners are the ultimate underdog. And after failing for so many years, it was about bringing in the right stuff, putting in the right structure, and giving the players the belief because at the end of the day, everybody's human. You know, I'm fortunate in my time as a player, you know, just an average guy from working class background in Leeds and I remembered lining up in the tunnel next to Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes and you've looked across your shoulder and think they're just human beings, you know, and I think, if you think that, that you can't compete with them, then you've lost already. And that's something we said to the boys. It's irrelevant. They're not bad. They're not bad players. And, you know, maybe the five more games, but, you know, if we get it right, as a team, and we stick to the values and beliefs that we have, you know, and the identity and the playing style, and everybody buys into, you know, what you want, as a coach and the way you want to play, then yeah, you have to give them the belief that you can be anybody. And I think, you know, by the end of last season, you could see the belief in the team, and the way that we played, I don't think anybody, you know, obviously, thought what would happen in the final in terms of goals, we scored the amount of goals we scored, but I truly believe that you know, where before that final, we would go on and win the championship. So you know, you have to have that belief, and I will set the place to start every season, if you don't believe and don't think they can win, every competition you're in, then there's no point in getting out of bed, because you've already you've hardly been any self. [PB13]

And I'm a massive believer on visualization. And you probably saw the stories, but along with a sports psychologist, we pick the picture up from 2013, when the club last won the championship and my face was on there, I think the club doctor was often the head doc king. He's been on TV for I think, for 20 years. And I said, by the end of the season, everybody's going to have the face on this fall photograph. And we're going to win the championship. And that was just another another thing that we did. And you know, that's not going to work every year. But I think that really helped the boys want to win the next game because they wanted to see their face on there. And by the end of it, you know, we had the two photographs up of the 2013 and 23. So as a real special moment, and that sort of cemented, you know that that visualization because some players believe in it, please don't. But I think by the end of it, whether you believed in it or not everybody, you know, was behind, you know, behind the idea. And it was it was a special moment.[PB14]

Paul Barnett 29:14

Nick, you you, you've talked about belief many, many times in this interview, I'm wondering, do you have any routines that you use to reflect and sort of renew your energy and your belief?

Nick Montogomery 29:27

Okay, I think during COVID and stuff, there's so much stuff online and I think everybody got overloaded with information. You know, I've tried to be a little bit more selective now because there is so much information out there. Some good some not good, but I think I'm really fortunate that I've got good people like good mentors, you know, that that I can speak to and that follow what I've done here and naturally, you know, just sort of remind you of, you know, how you got to where you are and what you did and all them. And I think that was been being myself and having my own belief on, on how we want it to play and what we want it to do. And yeah, it's not one for writing stuff down really not unfortunately now, there's a documentaries and stuff that that we had last season with end goal access. So you know, there is memories there that have been captured on video.

But I just think, you know, memory and in the feeling, the feeling that you get after winning, you can't replicate that feeling unless you win again. So it's like, just reminding the boys though, that feeling of winning, you know, everybody wants that. But also, you know, when you lose, which which you do football, these ups and downs, it's a big roller coaster. So we spot, but I always say at the boys, you know, don't get too high with the highs too low with the lows. Because if you do you find yourself on that, on that journey where it's just up and down, up and down. But the reality is, you know, you win, you win games, you lose games, you draw games, but you have to stay stable enough to keep with the same vision of where you want to be at the end of it. And, again, I learned that from from good people. And I've also seen it on the wrong side where people are so high after a win, that they lose a game and it's the end of the world. And then how would you pick yourself up from that it's a game of football, you know, you want to win every game. That's a fact. And the fans are not happy when you lose. That's a fact. But I always believe to prove the boys give the right effort. And you lose a game then yeah, you can accept that. And it's not the time to, to, you know, think it's the end of the world because it's not, then you have to pick everybody up and go again. So yeah, learning from stuff like that. And trust try to be become what also, if you've crossed me and you know, do the things wrong, then I'm more than happy to come down in yourself. As long as the boys understand that which they do. And the stuff then. Yeah, I mean, that's, that's a big part of who I am as a person.[PB15]

Paul Barnett 32:05

Nick, you've been a captain. And now a head coach or I know in football, they call them managers. But when you look for leadership qualities now in others around the club, support staff or players, what are you trying to identify?

Nick Montogomery 32:23

What people say you you're a born leader. I think some people up all need this other people that can become leaders, and if you teach them, and I think the best leaders are the ones that encourage, you know, and, again, you know, you have some leaders shout constantly and people think they're a leader. I don't think they are, I think the ones that are encouraging. See the people that are maybe struggling, don't grab on to one side and say, Listen, you struggling I can see that what can we do to help you know what's going on? What's going on, I think that sort of leadership and to, to make people leaders and if you can develop more leaders within the team, it doesn't matter who was the armband, the armband is more of a reflection of somebody that's a spokesperson for the team. You know, I think the ones that lead by their action, that effort and you have ones that lead by speaking, and I think if you can have a mix of different types of leaders, because everybody's a different leader, but ultimately, I'm the leader of the team, I have to make the decisions on its team and the hard decisions. And you know, as a leader, you have to make the decisions that you believe in. But also also encouraging, know, help people be a good person not have to be a good person to be a good leader. And, and sometimes that might be by just seeing someone struggling and telling them to go and see the sport psychologist or telling a sports psychologist that maybe this person is struggling and we know as men, you know, it's it's true that we keep a lot of stuff to ourselves. And it's only when it becomes so heavy that you have to share it with somebody. And we talk about sort of that stuff, you know, the mindset and, and the the emotional side of it that everybody's human and years ago, it was just not good enough, or whatever it was you're not playing by as now it's different. You have to get the most out of everybody. And if you can get the best out of everybody, then you're going to be a better team or an a better organization.[PB16]

Paul Barnett 34:28

I know I know your wife's probably waiting for you to get outside and keep cutting the grass or cleaning the front of the house or maybe just question. You're very early in your your head coaching career just a couple of years in over and already you've had so much success. And I know there's years and years and years to go and I know it's probably a strange question to ask. But if you did take a moment to reflect what is it that you hope the legacy is that you're leaving at the mariners

Nick Montogomery 35:00

I just worked the day I leave the mariners I just want to leave it in a better place than than it was when I took over. And I think that's something I've always tried to do with the academy know with the teams that have been out and right now that the club has gone from being, you know, one of the lowest attendances to 22,000 people at the last home game, one of the highest attendances the training ground was just one pitch, it's now got gyms, you know, we've been we've reinvested some of the money from the player sales into gym equipment and gyms, you know, so, you know, to develop better athletes, because I do believe that if you can become a better athlete, you can definitely become a better player in the modern game. So, you know, they're the sort of things when we talk about wanting to leave a legacy but but the history is a history though, that this the records that we brought, you know, winning the grand finals is always going to go down in history this season in the AFC Cup for the first time in the club's history, the first cup final. So yeah, the story is still not finished. But I think the moment you leave any club or organization, it can leave in a bad place. And when you took over it, and we structures in place to help it succeed, then I'll be really, really happy because it's a special club and will always have a special place in my heart because my family have grown up here. And it's, it's an amazing place with great funds and good community. Yeah, hopefully, in a better place than it was before.[PB17]

Paul Barnett 36:36

Nick, it's been great to meet you and hear a little bit more about the mariners story, it is a really phenomenal story of an under resourced club, stepping up and just changing history with, as you said, a focus on belief, man, management and youth. And I want to just thank you, again for taking the time to talk to us and take us through the story and give us a little bit more insight into your leadership style.

Nick Montogomery 36:59

I really appreciate the conversation and you taking time, it's a real honor to be on on the podcast. So hopefully it helps some people in in a small way. You know, whomever looking for answers. And it's not always the same in every situation, every organization, but I think ultimately the human element of it, if you get that right, and you know, I remember seeing a quote, and it was always about leadership. And if you can win the hearts and minds of the men, women, kids, whoever is that you're leading, then you've got a good chance of being successful.

Paul Barnett 37:31

I think that's a great place for us to finish hearts and minds. Thanks, Nick. I really appreciate it and all the very best for the season ahead. Thank you