Post by Macmoish on Jun 26, 2010 7:19:07 GMT
His very brief (unannounced) return to QPR last season (under Paul Hart?) and then (unannounced) departure - was weird (but maybe by recent QPR standards, not that weird)
Gloucestershire Echo
'Mad Dog' Martin Allen gives hope to young footballers in South Africa
FORMER Cheltenham Town boss Martin Allen is doing his bit improve the standard of football coaching in South Africa.
The 44-year-old, nicknamed Mad Dog, is working with young coaches in Cape Town as part of the Coaching for Hope initiative. The scheme, which is running alongside the World Cup, aims to equip local coaches with skills to take back to youngsters living in impoverished townships.
Allen, who was in charge at Whaddon Road from September 2008 to December 2009, described the experience as a "life changing", speaking on BBC 1's Match of the Day.
"The conditions you work in and the equipment you have available to you are not always ideal," he said.
"We work on a small patch of grass in someone's car park. We've got boys from 14 through to 17. They've got no mobile phones and some of them don't even have football boots.
"But we make the best of it. They don't have much equipment, but they've got plenty of enthusiasm and energy."
Funded by the League Managers Association, the scheme has benefited some 30,000 children across western and southern Africa. As well as teaching football skills, it aims to increase HIV awareness.
Allen, who is leading coaching clinics, was taken on a tour of a township where some 700,000 people live in makeshift houses, mostly fashioned from pieces of corrugated metal.
"The guys I've been working with work in those types of areas," he added.
"We're just trying to help teach drills and skills and fun games for them to take back to the townships.
"It's an absolute pleasure to work with these lads, and the coaches are the same. There is a different work ethic to when you're dealing with people at home."
The former Queens Park Rangers and West Ham player took over the Robins job after spells in charge at Barnet, Brentford, Milton Keynes Dons and Leicester City.
Clive Gowing, chairman of the Robins Trust, said both the club and the manager had moved on from the split.
"We've now got Mark Yates in charge and are looking forward," he said.
"I'm glad to see Martin Allen is giving something back to the game by taking part in such a worthwhile scheme."
www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/Coaching-South-Africa-life-changing-Mad-Dog/article-2348771-detail/article.html
Gloucestershire Echo
'Mad Dog' Martin Allen gives hope to young footballers in South Africa
FORMER Cheltenham Town boss Martin Allen is doing his bit improve the standard of football coaching in South Africa.
The 44-year-old, nicknamed Mad Dog, is working with young coaches in Cape Town as part of the Coaching for Hope initiative. The scheme, which is running alongside the World Cup, aims to equip local coaches with skills to take back to youngsters living in impoverished townships.
Allen, who was in charge at Whaddon Road from September 2008 to December 2009, described the experience as a "life changing", speaking on BBC 1's Match of the Day.
"The conditions you work in and the equipment you have available to you are not always ideal," he said.
"We work on a small patch of grass in someone's car park. We've got boys from 14 through to 17. They've got no mobile phones and some of them don't even have football boots.
"But we make the best of it. They don't have much equipment, but they've got plenty of enthusiasm and energy."
Funded by the League Managers Association, the scheme has benefited some 30,000 children across western and southern Africa. As well as teaching football skills, it aims to increase HIV awareness.
Allen, who is leading coaching clinics, was taken on a tour of a township where some 700,000 people live in makeshift houses, mostly fashioned from pieces of corrugated metal.
"The guys I've been working with work in those types of areas," he added.
"We're just trying to help teach drills and skills and fun games for them to take back to the townships.
"It's an absolute pleasure to work with these lads, and the coaches are the same. There is a different work ethic to when you're dealing with people at home."
The former Queens Park Rangers and West Ham player took over the Robins job after spells in charge at Barnet, Brentford, Milton Keynes Dons and Leicester City.
Clive Gowing, chairman of the Robins Trust, said both the club and the manager had moved on from the split.
"We've now got Mark Yates in charge and are looking forward," he said.
"I'm glad to see Martin Allen is giving something back to the game by taking part in such a worthwhile scheme."
www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/Coaching-South-Africa-life-changing-Mad-Dog/article-2348771-detail/article.html