Harry Kewell interview: Frank Rijkaard’s influence, his early steps in management, and hopes for Notts County
Harry Kewell knows he was not an obvious candidate to move into management after his career.
The Australian made 274 Premier League appearances for Leeds and Liverpool and played at two World Cups with Australia, but now he finds himself cutting his cloth at Notts County in Sky Bet League Two, following just over a year with Crawley.
„I don’t think people saw me as a coach,“ he admitted to former Liverpool team-mate Neil Mellor in an interview with Soccer Saturday. „But as a player I concentrated a lot on playing the game and I was always interested in the thinking side of football and speaking to managers about why they would pick a certain formation or play people in certain positions.
„I started off with one of the best in George Graham, where I learned the discipline side of football, then I had Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez. Guus Hiddink for the national team was also excellent and Terry Venables.
„But one of my favourites was Frank Rijkaard. I thought I saw the game in a different way to people but he just took it back that little bit further and really opened my eyes to certain things.“
Before Kewell wound up at Crawley in the summer of 2017 he had spent two years in charge of Watford’s U21 side, where he was dismissed after a poor run of results.
Kewell admits there was some frustration in the way his time with the Hornets ended, but knows his tenure there was invaluable as a learning experience.
„I’ve never been as nervous in my life in football than when I took my first session! There were only about 12 of them and they were all only about 18 or 19 and they probably didn’t even know who I was,“ he said.
„I remember sitting there explaining something but I was so nervous, I could always play the game but now it had changed because I had these ideas in my mind that I had to transfer to other people and make them believe it and work on it to do in a game.
„It was a great learning curve because I knew I could put on a session, but I couldn’t set out cones straight! That’s one of the hardest things to do in coaching, little things like that to be able to prepare a session properly.
„There were some huge mistakes and some big defeats. But the difference with the U21s is that it’s more about preparing the players for the first team then it is about the results. The first team play in a certain way and when players are thrown into the first team you want to make sure they can handle it, and I think five of my players made their debut in the Premier League.
„It took a while but the players understood it and I had a happy two years there. I loved every minute of it.“
Crawley then took a punt on Kewell to lead them after a disappointing couple of seasons in League Two. It didn’t start particularly well for him there but they rallied and eventually finished 14th.
This season they had won two of their first five games before Notts County swooped in to take the Australian, having sacked Kevin Nolan after a dismal start to the season. It was an opportunity he knew he couldn’t refuse.
„It’s a huge club and I think it’s a sleeping giant,“ said Kewell. „Every team that comes here stands in awe because it’s a 20,000-seater stadium with great fans. The pitch at Meadow Lane is perfect and I think it’s the biggest club in League Two and maybe even League One. I think we belong in the Championship.
„When I spoke to the chairman about the job there’s a timeline and idea of what he wants and I believe I can deliver that. They say it takes three years to build your team and if you work hard enough and show progression then I’m sure someone will stick and work with you.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
