Sheffield United: Nick Montgomery says 'Now I know why Neil Warnock was always so stressed'
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Yet despite the demands of his new role, which Montgomery told The Star are much higher than being a player, he is relishing the responsibility of preparing his squad for the upcoming Australian campaign.
Only 16 clubs in the world handed more minutes to home-grown talent than The Mariners last term, with none of those being located Down Under. One of those youngsters - Kye Rowles - has just completed a move to Heart of Midlothian and Montgomery, previously in charge of his employers’ youth programme, has explained how promoting from within has given them “a real identity”.
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Hide Ad“It’s something we’ve become known for,” he said. “Developing people, that’s given us a personality that’s distinct from a lot of other teams and the fans here have really bought into that idea. It means everyone here has an affinity with what we do.
“These lads aren’t just brought through for the sake of it, mind. It only happens if they’re good enough. And many of them are, so why wouldn’t you give them an opportunity?
“Everyone makes mistakes but that’s how you grow and learn. I wasn’t dropped by Neil when I made one. I was encouraged and so were the rest of us who came through back then.”
The route through
Montgomery was among a crop of youngsters ushered into the first team during Warnock’s reign at Bramall Lane, making his senior bow in October 2000. Nearly 400 appearances later and one promotion to the Premier League later, he joined the Mariners a decade ago - performing a variety of different roles before replacing Alen Stajcic in July. Stajcic acquitted himself well. But, now overseeing the Philippines women’s side, reportedly left over concerns about the Mariners’ budget which is the lowest in the competition.
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Hide Ad“I came over as a player but I was always interested in becoming a coach,” Montgomery continued. “I’d done my ‘A’ and ‘B’ badges by the time I retired so I could step into that and then got the ‘Pro’ one. When the job came up, being here already, I applied for it and was delighted to get it. I’m loving every minute of it.
“The selection process was really in-depth so I was chuffed to come through it. I brought in an assistant, who’d been at Benfica and who I’d met on one of those courses. We just went from there.”
The benefits
Although he insists his previous work on the Mariners backroom staff meant “nothing really surprised” him after being appointed, Montgomery said: “When you’re a player, you can basically just turn up. When you’re a manager, you’re basically in charge of everything. Now I know why Neil was always so stressed back then - only joking of course.
“But the thing is, I love the people side of the job and also trying to help people get better. So it’s pretty much everything I enjoy basically.”