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BAHRAIN’S new young coach, Anthony Hudson, is planning to lead the nation’s top footballers to glory with a touch of movie magic.
The 32-year-old son of Chelsea’s former legendary midfielder Alan said he will use the same unique techniques he mastered to motivate the Olympic team to cup-winning success.
The modern-day tactician has been promoted to coach the kingdom’s senior side after motivating Bahrain to victory in the fifth Huawei GCC Under-23 Championship by showing them his ‘home movie’ featuring an edited clip from The Gladiator movie during the competition.
His team talk was graphic with a clear cinematic message to play ‘with strength and with honour’. He also merged highlights from past games displaying tactical and defensive teamwork as well as some archived goals from former Bahrain stars with the Hollywood hit.
Hudson, a British expat, who lives in Amwaj, says the clip inspired the team to show a winning mentality and the Gladiators snip in particular motivated the players to take to the pitch showing the same ‘never-say-die’ spirit as actor Russell Crowe displayed in the gladiator arena.
“You can forget about language barrier problems!” the British coach said. “This was an ideal visual way of getting across the message that a winning mentality makes a winner!”
According to Hudson, the Gulf Cup of Nations success beating neighbours Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final last week was incredible and the way that Bahrain’s promising crop of players performed proved that they can develop into the top senior team in the region.
He added: “The players were unbeaten, excellent every game and strong. I believe we played some of the best football in the tournament and were the best team.
“Don’t get me wrong, Saudi Arabia had some top players and were a strong side to beat – but they were strong individually – and I reckon we were better as a team. To beat Saudi in the final was simply amazing.”
When the final whistle blew, the Bahrain National Stadium erupted with emotion as the squad made history by clinching the cup for the first time and the players threw Hudson in the air in celebration.
Hudson said: “Before the game, the build-up was incredible. People from the Bahrain Football Association kept saying to me we had to win to make history. Leading up to the final I just kept reminding the players that this was just another game in order to keep them calm. After we won, it was brilliant.
“It got very emotional as people have worked so hard and waited so long for this success. When the whistle blew everyone lost it.
“The best reaction I saw was from my colleague and the team manager Omran Abdulla. He has been working with me for two years now and has even given me the nickname ‘Headache’ because every morning he wakes up and finds half a dozen emails I’ve sent him with stuff to do!
“When we won he was the first to run and slide over to the captain who was sprawled on the ground and in tears. That just made it all worthwhile!”
The squad and the team management were invited to celebrate their unbeaten success in the competition, which saw them also defeat Kuwait, the UAE and Oman on their way to clinch the crown, at a reception at Safriya Palace with His Majesty King Hamad, in the presense of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president, Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Khalifa.
“I had received many texts and calls from various people even before the win but the most touching were from His Majesty and Shaikh Nasser,” said Hudson. “They had been watching all our games and were pleased with the way the team played. They also said, win or lose, they were proud of the players. It’s been great to have their support and the entire squad appreciated it.”
Now Hudson has the daunting task of steering the senior national team to a place in the Finals of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia.
The team is currently training in Kuwait and will play a friendly match against the country’s national team on September 9. It will be Hudson’s first international match as senior team head coach.
The Bahrain squad will then return to the kingdom on September 12, concluding the first phase of their training in preparation for their qualifiers for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
Bahrain are in Group D of the qualifying competition alongside Qatar, Malaysia and Yemen. They have already recorded two victories, 2-0 away against Yemen and a 1-0 home victory over Qatar. They play Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on October 15.
The question on everyone’s mind is whether Hudson will be moving up many of his trophy-winning young stars into the senior squad.
He said: “With the senior team you have to do things a little bit differently, without losing what you want to get across. They are just different players – more experienced and knowledgeable about the game so straight away they will immediately catch on with my instructions, without having to say things twice. The videos will help too!”
Two players he is looking forward to working with are midfielder Mohammed Salmeen, 32, once described as Bahrain’s most valuable player, and current captain, defender Mohammed Hussein, 31.
“I think there in already a lot of quality in the senior squad. I have always really liked footballers like Mohammed Hussein, who I think is a leader on the pitch, and Mohammed Salmeen, who is also someone I love as a player. I think the way I like to play Salmeen will be perfect and he is someone that the team should be built around.
“There is a lot of good talent and I think it’s important to keep the core of the senior players together to help the younger players I bring in.
“That being said, there are already a lot of players that have been playing in the senior team, on and off. They have had experience with them. There are also guys threatening to get into the senior squad and I will be taking six or seven forward. I think the way the team has evolved it will be a natural transition.
“I just want my team to play good football as well as being organised, hardworking and ambitious.”
Hudson has replaced Argentinian coach Gabriel Claderon who could not agree terms to extend his contract with the football association. He came to the island as part of the coaching team put together by axed former England Under-21 coach Peter Taylor when he was in charge.
He has called in Alex Armstrong from Sheffield Wednesday and Bahrain’s Marjan Eid as assistants, alongside goalkeeping coach Vladinir Ciric from Serbia, to strengthen his backroom crew.
Hudson has looked far and wide to sharpen his footballing knowledge and even made a trip to Spain for a session with The Special One, Jose Morinhou, during his spell with Real Madrid.
Morinhou is now manager of Chelsea and Hudson predicts that the West Londoners will take the English Premiership. Hudson said: “I personally think Chelsea will win the league title this season. Anywhere Murinho goes he wins. I think he knows how to win and they will be strong enough. He is the best.”
He thinks current champions Manchester United may struggle because coach David Moyes will need to settle in after taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson … although he confidently predicts Bahrain will have no such bother under its new boss!
