Big-name influences on the new Peterborough United boss, including the 'most underrated manager in the world'
Harry Kane, Gus Poyet, Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola – they’ve all been part of the managerial journey of new Peterborough United boss Luke Williams.
Kane and Poyet have had a direct involvement, while Ferguson and Guardiola have inspired the coaching philosophies of a still relatively young manager, one who started running teams at under 14 level and travelled through peaks and troughs to reach the Championship.
It’s a place he wants to find again, this time by taking Posh back to the second tier. He’s rejuvenated after nine months out of the game and he’s been quick to implement his own ideas on players who have only known one previous Posh manager.
A different, quicker, more positive style of play was obvious, but other, little changes have already been introduced as Williams seeks the marginal gains which will get Posh out of relegation trouble.
He’s changed the players’ day-off, the day of the pre-match press conference and you now don’t see the players before a game until 35 minutes to kick-off as Williams wants every minute of matchday used ;wisely, efficiently and intensely’ rather than have ‘players twiddling their thumbs.’
Williams was invited to discuss his path to Posh from childhood by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire during a pre-match press call ahead of Saturday’s League One clash with Wimbledon at the Weston Homes Stadium.
And, as the man has been nothing but gracious and helpful since arriving at the club, he was a willing participant.
‘LIKE WATCHING FOOTBALL COMBINE WITH ART.’
“I didn’t support any team in particular growing up in London. I didn’t have a season ticket for any club. No team jumped off the page for me. If my mates wanted to watch Arsenal I’d go with them to Highbury and if my mates wanted to watch Spurs or West Ham I’d go to White Hart Lane or the Boleyn Ground with them, which makes me feel rather old as those clubs have all moved grounds.
"I’d also watch Leyton Orient where my father is a season ticket holder. My brother is a mad Spurs fan, but the first team that really caught my attention was the Manchester United team that dominated the Premier League under Sir Alex Ferguson. They captivated me and I fell in love with some of those players.
"I was at Norwich City as a young footballer and as a 14-year-old schoolboy I remember United coming to play at Carrow Road just before Christmas in an FA Cup tie. I just couldn’t take my eyes of some of the players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. That United team was eye-opening.
"Later the teams of peak Barcelona and Manchester City under Pep Guardiola were magical. Watching City under Pep in his first two seasons was like watching football combining with art.
"I have to say Norwich City also had a big impact on me. They finished second in the Premier League and beat Bayern Munich before playing Inter Milan in Europe.”
‘THE MOST UNDERRATED MANAGER IN THE WORLD’
"The first team I coached was Orient Under 14s. I remember being quite disappointed at how negative football was in the early 1990s so I tried to make my players more excited about playing football and for them to play with freedom.
"I coached a few local teams after that and then out of the blue I took a call from Darren Bloom, the brother of Brighton owner Tony Bloom, who said they were looking for an under 21 coach and my name had come up. They asked me to interview for that job.
“When I started I met Gus Poyet and what an influence he had on me. He must be the most underrated manager in the world. He said to me he wouldn’t tell me how to coach because he was a manager, but he was firm about what he expected.
"My remit was to have to have all the possession and create all the chances because one without the other just wouldn’t work. He told me he wouldn’t be fooled by results. He didn’t want possession just for the sake of possession because that was pointless. It was a lesson I have carried with me ever since.
"At Notts County we scored 117 goals in one National League season, but we had the fourth best defensive record as well. Some didn't understand how we could concede so few goals when we clearly played with high risk, but it was all down to how quickly the players were winning the ball back. It wasn’t about suffocating teams with possession, it was putting into practice what Gus told me. Create at one end, deny at the other end and dominate the chunks of grass in the middle.”
‘FROM SPURS TO SWINDON TOWN IN ONE PRE-SEASON’
“My work at Brighton was recognised by Spurs a few years later and I was invited on a pre-season training camp to Portugal. I was working with an incredible group including Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and (former Posh loanee) Alex Pritchard and at the same resort Swindon Town were training. Tim Sherwood was with Spurs and one of his mates had just bought Swindon and they were desperate for staff so he asked me to help out, so by the end of that trip I was first-team coach at Swindon!
Williams went on manage Swindon Town and also coached at Bristol City MK Dons and Swansea before accepting a manager’s post at Notts County. From there he went manage Swansea City in the Championship.