Liam Manning opens with a sentence that is never a good way to start an interview.
“I’m quite a boring person,” he says. But after speaking to the 38-year-old Oxford United boss, it becomes very clear that Manning and his team are far from boring.
The U’s have won four of six matches in League One so far and are tipped by many as an outside bet for promotion. They are one of the best teams to watch in the Football League given their expansive, possession-based style of play.
Despite his ambition to be boring – he spent rare days off during the international holidays with family time and took the dog for a walk instead of flying to an exotic destination – Manning has a more unorthodox career path than most people in the world. country.
“I joined Ipswich Academy at 13, the year they got promoted to the Premier League and went to the UEFA Cup with the great Marcus Stewart,” says Manning. ‘At the end of my fellowship I was told by Joe Royle: ‘You’re not quite what we’re looking for.’
Liam Manning has had a more unorthodox career path than most after being rejected by Ipswich at the age of 13
The Oxford United boss enjoyed success in charge of MK Dons but narrowly missed out on promotion
Your browser does not support iframes.
‘There are hundreds of thousands of children who have had that. I don’t think it’s until you get out of the bubble of an academy that you realize how difficult it is to develop a way of playing in the industry.
“So I went on trial to a few clubs, played in non-League, went abroad and played in Iceland for a year, but then came back and was at a crossroads. And then I came across coaching at Ipswich. It’s a real club, they look after their own club with a family atmosphere.
“It was quite full trying to make ends meet. You never earned much as a scientist. “I worked in a school from 8am to 3.30pm, then I coached five nights a week, then I coached on Saturday mornings, played non-League football on Saturday afternoons and coached on Sunday mornings.”
Manning joins a trend of managers who have not had a sparkling playing career. For example, alongside Oxford in the rankings you will find Mark Bonner in Cambridge, who joined the club as a youth coach in his teens and is now the first team manager.
Manning rose from his seven-day-a-week schedule to become a key youth coach at the Tractor Boys and then took charge of West Ham’s Under 23s – where he is credited with developing Declan Rice – before venturing into managing the recruitment at New York City FC.
‘I had the opportunity to work at West Ham but was approached to become director of recruitment at NYCFC. They were only four years old but were supported by the City Football Group,” he added.
‘It was an opportunity to develop myself, see a bit of the world and shape my football ideas. It was understanding how to communicate and get people to accept my methods.
‘I’ve always set goals and had objectives, but I want to be the best version of myself. I never chased anything, but I let my work do the talking. The journey will therefore always fall into place.
Manning’s U’s currently sit seventh in League One, having won four of their opening six games
‘I’m not afraid to say that I copied some methods in the beginning. But now I dare to say with my philosophy: “This is me”. I have been fortunate to have a number of mentors who have given me a few things along the way.
‘It’s about taking bits from different people that you like. When you look at Pep, how could you not want to study him and learn from him? But it’s about understanding how you can translate what they do to your team.’
Manning had a spell as manager of Belgian club Lommel, where he spent time on a study visit with Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht, before finding success as boss of MK Don, although narrowly missing out on promotion.
He took over Oxford towards the end of last season with the club eyeing relegation to League Two, having scored just one point in the last ten games before long-serving Karl Robinson left. Now they are promotion candidates.
“When I came in, I wouldn’t say they were easy wins… but they needed a fresh voice and new methods,” he says. “I came into an environment where players were hungry to be coached. The boys were really looking forward to it.
He spent time on a study visit to Lommel, Belgium, with Vincent Kompany, now Burnley boss
Manning is credited with being one of the coaches who nurtured Declan Rice at West Ham’s Under 23s
‘It was a busy summer, 17 players out and 11 in. We spent a lot of time watching players and digging into their characters. Identifying a good player is easy. It is more about building a selection with a good cultural fit, where youth and experience are in balance.
“We allow players to have a voice in meetings. We work on communication on the field, but play clips in meetings and say to them, ‘What do you see? Break that off.”
‘We go through the same process whether we win 3-0 or lose 3-0. What have we done well? What can we do better? It creates a culture of weekly improvement.
‘Setting goals for the end of the season is too far away, we work hard for it every day. It’s such a long and intense season, you have to get into the habit of training to the max every day.”
THREE GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND
Cardiff v Swansea 7.45pm Saturday, Championship
Swansea boss Michael Duff played down this Welsh derby when asked about its importance about a week ago, but he will know privately that this could be an important opportunity to build some momentum.
Look out for the in-form Aaron Ramsey, who returns to Cardiff after 15 years.
The in-form Aaron Ramsey returned to Cardiff City after fifteen years after signing with Nice
Stevenage v Charlton Athletic 3pm Saturday, League One
Moving on, who did Stevenage have in their predictions as promotion challengers in League One? If you say yes, you’re lying.
Steve Evans has Stevenage flying with their unlikely promotion challengers at the start of the season
Yes, they’ve played one more game than most and it’s still very early, but Steve Evans is making them fly and it’s a joy to watch.
MK Dons v Stockport 3pm Saturday, League Two
This is fourth place against 17th, but it pits two of the promotion favorites against each other and should be a great match.
Nick Powell was Stockport’s main signing this summer, but Louie Barry, once signed by Barcelona as a 15-year-old, is flourishing with four goals in seven games.