Post by QPR Report on Nov 25, 2008 7:59:56 GMT
Come on. He's ex-QPR; ..He's an international. He played in Italy. He's got previous managerial experience....Seems an obvious choice 
[Sure the article doesn't note he played for QPR. But that's just an oversight, I'm sure
]
The Times/Nick Szczepanik
Mark Hateley: Fabio Capello made me complete
Goals change games, but they can also change careers. When an England squad left these shores for a South American tour in 1984 weakened by withdrawals — nothing much changes — it offered an opportunity for a promising young Portsmouth striker, then in the old second division. Mark Hateley’s goal in a 2-0 victory over Brazilattracted the attention of AC Milan.
On Thursday, Portsmouth host Milan in the Uefa Cup in a fixture that would have seemed as incredible 24 years ago as moving to the San Siro was to the 22-year-old Hateley. “It was a culture shock,” he said. “I tried not to think about my surroundings wherever I played — pull a shirt on, work hard and give my all — and I’d won two European Under-21 Championships. But I was still a second division player going to play in Serie A, when it was the best league in the world, with [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge, Zico and [Diego] Maradona playing there. If I’d really thought about it, I would have been in a daze.”
A second division player, true, but one who had just scored against Brazil. “Yes, but it was a run-of-the-mill goal for a centre forward in those days — a far-post header,” he said. “I never had an inkling what it might mean. I was just delighted to be playing at the Maracanã [Stadium] and to have scored on my full debut. I didn’t consider the magnitude of what had happened until the phone rang. It was Ray Wilkins, who had signed a pre-contract with Milan at Easter. He’d got a call from the powers that be at Milan asking if I would be interested. I thought he was taking the mickey.
“I had had a fabulous year at Portsmouth, scoring goals in an attacking team, but it was a great move for me and a good deal for Portsmouth, who got £1 million. AC Milan were resurgent, with an experienced manager in Nils Liedholm, the former Swedish centre forward, and a young Fabio Capello just starting out as a coach in the background. Plus I was at Milanello, which was probably the best training facility of the era. When I was at Portsmouth, we trained anywhere we could — just jump in a car or minibus and find somewhere, as most teams used to in those days.
“Capello was involved with the youth team, but he would also work with me. He and Liedholm used to take me for extra sessions more or less every afternoon, two coaches, me and a goalkeeper, and teach me how to play the game, the basic techniques that you weren’t taught in England at those times. Great guy, great family, great discipline — and we’ve already seen what he has achieved in a short time in giving England back discipline. He made me as complete a player as I could be.
“If you could play in Serie A, often playing alone up front, you could play in any league — your technique could survive any test.”
That point was proved when he played alongside Glenn Hoddle under Arsène Wenger at Monaco before moving to Rangers, “where I played my best football, scoring goals for fun alongside Alistair McCoist”. You mean Ally? “Alistair was what he was christened, so that’s what I called him. That, or ‘the fat No 9.’ ”
Hateley enjoyed less success as player-manager of Hull City at the bottom of the Football League a decade ago. “I was brought in under false pretences, told I would have £3 million to spend to build a team and get them up two divisions in three years, which I felt perfectly comfortable with doing,” he said. “But I changed a lot of things there, such as the academy. I would like to think I played a part in the way they have gone from strength to strength.
“People said Hull was a rugby league town, but it is a football place and the supporters deserve to be supporting a Premier League club.”
Now working in public relations for Rangers, Hateley believes that the game is calling him again and his only regret is that his form in Scotland did not earn him more than his 32 England caps. “The experience at Hull didn’t put me off, quite the reverse,” he said. “Despite all the problems, we actually played good football, bearing in mind the limitations of the players.
“It hasn’t deterred me from being a coach and I am ready to go back in, perhaps behind the scenes as a director of football. But it was a difficult period of my life and I needed a break from football. With my dad \ having been a player, I had had two lifetimes in the game.”
Hateley has no doubt that Fratton Park will be pulsating for the meeting of his former clubs. “It has hardly changed since I played there and it is still a fabulous place to play, with fantastic supporters,” he said. “The atmosphere will be tremendous.”
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/portsmouth/article5219153.ece
[Sure the article doesn't note he played for QPR. But that's just an oversight, I'm sure
]The Times/Nick Szczepanik
Mark Hateley: Fabio Capello made me complete
Goals change games, but they can also change careers. When an England squad left these shores for a South American tour in 1984 weakened by withdrawals — nothing much changes — it offered an opportunity for a promising young Portsmouth striker, then in the old second division. Mark Hateley’s goal in a 2-0 victory over Brazilattracted the attention of AC Milan.
On Thursday, Portsmouth host Milan in the Uefa Cup in a fixture that would have seemed as incredible 24 years ago as moving to the San Siro was to the 22-year-old Hateley. “It was a culture shock,” he said. “I tried not to think about my surroundings wherever I played — pull a shirt on, work hard and give my all — and I’d won two European Under-21 Championships. But I was still a second division player going to play in Serie A, when it was the best league in the world, with [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge, Zico and [Diego] Maradona playing there. If I’d really thought about it, I would have been in a daze.”
A second division player, true, but one who had just scored against Brazil. “Yes, but it was a run-of-the-mill goal for a centre forward in those days — a far-post header,” he said. “I never had an inkling what it might mean. I was just delighted to be playing at the Maracanã [Stadium] and to have scored on my full debut. I didn’t consider the magnitude of what had happened until the phone rang. It was Ray Wilkins, who had signed a pre-contract with Milan at Easter. He’d got a call from the powers that be at Milan asking if I would be interested. I thought he was taking the mickey.
“I had had a fabulous year at Portsmouth, scoring goals in an attacking team, but it was a great move for me and a good deal for Portsmouth, who got £1 million. AC Milan were resurgent, with an experienced manager in Nils Liedholm, the former Swedish centre forward, and a young Fabio Capello just starting out as a coach in the background. Plus I was at Milanello, which was probably the best training facility of the era. When I was at Portsmouth, we trained anywhere we could — just jump in a car or minibus and find somewhere, as most teams used to in those days.
“Capello was involved with the youth team, but he would also work with me. He and Liedholm used to take me for extra sessions more or less every afternoon, two coaches, me and a goalkeeper, and teach me how to play the game, the basic techniques that you weren’t taught in England at those times. Great guy, great family, great discipline — and we’ve already seen what he has achieved in a short time in giving England back discipline. He made me as complete a player as I could be.
“If you could play in Serie A, often playing alone up front, you could play in any league — your technique could survive any test.”
That point was proved when he played alongside Glenn Hoddle under Arsène Wenger at Monaco before moving to Rangers, “where I played my best football, scoring goals for fun alongside Alistair McCoist”. You mean Ally? “Alistair was what he was christened, so that’s what I called him. That, or ‘the fat No 9.’ ”
Hateley enjoyed less success as player-manager of Hull City at the bottom of the Football League a decade ago. “I was brought in under false pretences, told I would have £3 million to spend to build a team and get them up two divisions in three years, which I felt perfectly comfortable with doing,” he said. “But I changed a lot of things there, such as the academy. I would like to think I played a part in the way they have gone from strength to strength.
“People said Hull was a rugby league town, but it is a football place and the supporters deserve to be supporting a Premier League club.”
Now working in public relations for Rangers, Hateley believes that the game is calling him again and his only regret is that his form in Scotland did not earn him more than his 32 England caps. “The experience at Hull didn’t put me off, quite the reverse,” he said. “Despite all the problems, we actually played good football, bearing in mind the limitations of the players.
“It hasn’t deterred me from being a coach and I am ready to go back in, perhaps behind the scenes as a director of football. But it was a difficult period of my life and I needed a break from football. With my dad \ having been a player, I had had two lifetimes in the game.”
Hateley has no doubt that Fratton Park will be pulsating for the meeting of his former clubs. “It has hardly changed since I played there and it is still a fabulous place to play, with fantastic supporters,” he said. “The atmosphere will be tremendous.”
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/portsmouth/article5219153.ece
