Kit Symons brushes up on his coaching skills
Kit Symons brushes up on his coaching skills on UEFA B course now he and Palace need to learn the art of bouncebackability
Kit Symons brushes up on his coaching skills on UEFA 'B' course - now he and Palace need to learn the art of 'bouncebackability'!
Kit Symons hasn't been sulking in a corner after Crystal Palace's relegation and has thrown himself into his coaching qualifications instead. Iain Dowie's number two had to watch in agony as Palace's Premiership lifeline was taken away from them with only eight minutes remaining of the final game of the season at Charlton.
It has led to constant speculation over the future of top goalscorer Andy Johnson and the highly-rated Dowie himself. However, it is full steam ahead for Symons as the former Portsmouth and Manchester City centre half bids to add to his growing portfolio of coaching qualifications. Symons was on the PFA's own UEFA 'B' course at Sheffield United's training ground where the 34-year-old had just finished a phase of play assessment when Ian Clarkson spoke to him for another givemefootball exclusive.
Q. HOW DID YOU FIND TAKING AN ASSESSED SESSION WITH 18 PAST AND PRESENT PROFESSIONALS?
A. It wasn't too bad. However, it is a little bit nerve wracking when you have to deliver your sessions to fellow professionals. We are all players learning to be coaches rather than being the coach who coaches the players. It is a different scenario but it is a good group of lads and we have all helped each other through our sessions, but it is a bit nerve-wracking when you are put on the spot. We have all been in thousands of coaching sessions over the years but on the receiving end rather than delivering.
Q. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ON THE COURSE?
A. It makes you think about your organisation and your planning of sessions, which is vital. You have to do your session plan beforehand and follow that and you also need to be able to think on your feet as well. You have your session all planned out and scenarios all written down but when you are in free play then situations just develop and evolve – not always how you have written them down – so you have to be able to go with the session. Dennis Mortimer, Joe Joyce and Andy Barlow – the PFA coaches - have all been very good.
Q. HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS AWARD TO YOU IN YOUR GRAND PLAN?
A. It is vital that you get your coaching qualifications all the way through to be in the game and I am obviously working towards my UEFA 'B now. Hopefully I can do that and then move on to the 'A' Licence. I eventually want to move on and take the Pro Licence. I am also doing an Applied Management course at Warwick University, which the PFA has also had a hand in, and it is vital that you get as many qualifications that you can.
Q. DO YOU THINK WORKING WITH PREMIERSHIP PLAYERS ON A DAILY BASIS AT CRYSTAL PALACE HAS HELPED?
A. Working with players at Palace does give you extra confidence but that is one thing I haven't done a great deal of. I have done a lot of other aspects of the assistant manager's role but Iain Dowie is very much a hands-on manager who does the vast majority of the coaching. I have developed it over the season and done quiet a lot of individual work rather than team sessions. So this is good for me to work on structuring team sessions and phase of play and small-sided games. I haven't done that as often in this sort of environment so it is good for me to learn that aspect of the game too.
Q. I TAKE IT THE AIM FOR CRYSTAL PALACE IS TO WIN PROMOTION BACK TO THE PREMIERSHIP AT THE FIRST ATTEMPT?
A. We want to bounce back again and – in Iain's words – we want to show some bouncebackability and be straight back in the Premiership with the big boys.
