Scotland fans were stunned on Saturday when it was revealed the SFA had chosen Sebastien Pocognoli to succeed Steve Clarke as head coach of the national team.
The 39-year-old, a former Standard Liege, AZ Alkmaar, Hannover 96, West Brom, Brighton and Belgium left-back, has only been a manager for two seasons.
The ex-Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco man was officially unveiled at Hampden yesterday and chief football writer Matthew Lindsay went along to speak to him.
Question: Sebastien, you have spoken about how you can relate to the passion Scots have for football. Where does your passion come from?
Sebastien Pocognoli: “It comes from education. Where I come from, the passion for football is massive. Maybe it is my Italian blood. I was born with a ball at my feet. I am a passionate person and I think this country is very passionate also. That is something I really like, the human aspect.
“In football these days there is a lot of talk about the technical aspect, but the human aspect is very important for me. I always want to work in that environment. Monaco was totally different. It was a nice experience, but it made me realise that I miss this passion.
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“There are a lot of numbers in modern football. Everyone has to stick with a plan and be really rigid. Decisions are made for the players and they are really kept under control. But I think the human aspect can make a difference.
“Let them make a decision on the pitch and bring some creativity. Don’t just give them a Plan A and a Plan B, give them a Plan C and a Plan D and let them decide for themselves.
“But you need to create a relationship to do that. That is more difficult with a national team because you are not working with them daily like you are at a club. But I will try to be clear and create a good environment for the players. That is the biggest part of the job.”
Q: There is a perception that being an international football manager is a job for an older man. Is that unimportant now?
SP: “For me it is not important because. You can do well as an experienced coach or a young coach. When I joined Union I was very young and nobody expected me to take over. But we did very well.
“Yes, I am a young international coach, but I am very excited and full or energy. I will try to fix what I can fix and hope I can make a difference.”
Q: Have you spoken to any of the Scotland players?
SP: “I will go through that process this week. But I have spoken to Andy, the captain. I thought it was very important to do that. We had a very informal conversation. It was very positive.
“Andy is a very passionate captain who is proud to represent his country. He will continue to play with integrity as he has done for years. It is very important for me that I have that kind of captain around me.
“I hope that I can give him the chance to do it more and enjoy the sort of success that he did before. As the weeks go on, step by step, I top to create a relationship with the players.”
Q: You were fined and cautioned by police after planting a Standard Liege flag on the Charleroi pitch in your playing days. Does that show how passionate about the game you are?
SP: “It was a long time ago. I was a young wolf. But it was slightly too much. I will not do that again.
“You have to be careful with passion also. Too much passion can be too much and can cross the line. You need to find the balance – to be analytical and to be passionate. If you just react only with passion you make mistakes.
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“I am passionate, but I also try to be analytical, I am very energetic on the touchline and in my relationship with the players. But I also try to be calm in the right moments because I need to make good choices and I need to have a clear head.
“You also need a good staff around you to help you to have a good voice and give good advice. Yes, passion is good but you cannot react to everything with fire.”
Q: You have a reputation for blooding young players. Is youth important to you?
SP: “That is in my baggage – to work with young players. At the end of my playing career I went straight into the academy at Union SG. Then I moved on to Genk and Belgium. I know the routine of the national teams and how players have to get used to that routine.
“Union was a project to develop players, that is something I like to do. At Monaco in a short period of time I developed many good players. They sold a lot of players this summer and I was only there for six months. That shows what I can do.
“But the national team needs a different approach. You need the clubs, you need to have the support from clubs, and I hope I can stimulate this.”
Q: What do you think of the Scotland squad you are inheriting?
SP: “It is a trap to want to change too much. It is impossible to change too much. First of all, because the inheritance I get is very strong. They have brought Scotland back to the map and that has been the case for many years. The team are experienced. We have players who win titles in this group. It is massive to use this.
“But, yes, if you want to continue you also have to bring in new players, give them a chance, test them. But you have to find the right balance to be successful and develop some young players. The key is finding the right balance and making good choices for the qualifiers.”
Q: What style of play do you favour?
SP: “Like many coaches, you say you want to be dominant. But of course it is easy to be dominant on paper and in training tell that to the players. But to make it happen in the heads of the players in games is a big difference.
“I like to defend on the front foot and be high up the pitch. The risk is you give up some space at the back, but there is more chance to be dangerous high up the pitch. So, yes, I want to be direct, to have good passing options.
“But I want to keep the qualities of Scottish football – to be passionate and win more duels than the opponent. That to me is very important.”
Q: Do we have the players to do that?
SP: “We have strong abilities. It is up to me to put this into the heads of the players so they believe they can achieve this. I hope I can bring my ideas, yes.
Q: Do you think you can strengthen the Scottish mentality?
SP: "It depends if you look negatively or positively. For me, to come back to tournaments is massive. That's the base. We can discuss what should be better at the tournament, but that for me is not the talking point. I don't want to make the parallel with me and someone else. I want to keep the heritage and bring my ideas without making any difference from what was achieved before.”
Q: You played against Scotland at Hampden with Belgium in 2013. What was your memory of the Tartan Army?
SP: "It was a long time ago and it was not the same moment for Scottish football. But it was a good atmosphere. Union played against Rangers at Ibrox in the Europa League when I was there and that was also a great atmosphere.
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“My first cap for the young national team was also in Scotland, Aberdeen. The stadium was full. It was always a good feeling. I played with many Scottish players and I always had a good relationship with them. I met some Scottish coaches in my career and always had a good feeling.”
Q: Will you live in Scotland or commute from Belgium?
SP: "I will be between the two countries. If I want to ingrain myself in the culture, I need to be here some days and I will be here. I need to know the people in the building here, I need to know names and faces, I need to meet people at the clubs. I need to see the young teams from Scotland. It's a full-time job that you cannot do only in Belgium.”
Q: Will you use the forthcoming Nations League games to experiment?
SP: "It's about finding the right balance. I have to get the right results otherwise you (the media) will be on me and find the opportunity to develop some players. When you try things it's a risk. I'll try to get the benefit of a result and also develop and be ready for what is coming next season. I want to go through the processes and challenges.”
Q: What happened at Monaco?
SP: "I left Union in October because I felt I had gone through the challenge there. It was difficult to do even better. Then Monaco came along. There's always a risk when you arrive in October as you don't have time to build your squad. I think we had the quality to play my style.
“We had a lot of problems with injuries, but I used this to develop the young players. We had a fantastic period of good games against the top teams in France and in the Champions League.
“If you want to analyse the second half of the season, we were the second best team. This summer they sold a lot of young players. I think if I had got a second season with them I would have improved things. But football is sometimes like this. Still, it was a fantastic experience. I don't regret it at all.”
Q: Robbie Ure is now playing for Sevilla in Spain now. We have many other promising players. Are they ready to play for Scotland?
SP: “Yes, I think there are some exciting names who will come through. It will depend who is progressing at their clubs and what they achieve. But it can only be really positive for Scottish football.
“There are a lot of names to follow. But also I would like to see these young names growing in the top clubs in Scotland because that’s where you want to see them. That is something very important for me too, to follow the young talents here.”
Q: Will it be important to have Scots in your backroom team?
SP: “Yes, 100 per cent. To come here and just do my own thing wouldn’t work. In my first job at Union I arrived without any staff. It was like just jumping in the swimming pool and swimming. I had all the people around me and I tried to embrace them and convince them. It was challenging, but it worked. I went to Monaco with only two guys. You have to embrace the culture and I will do the same here.”
Q: Where does that “sink or swim” attitude come from?
SP: “Education I think. I just go to enjoy the experience. Life is there. You just try to not go into the swimming pool without any idea! You always have an idea that can work.”
Q: Have you spoken to your predecessor Steve Clarke?
SP: “Not yet, but I will. We will talk about Scottish football and Scotland. But I think all the people here, all the staff, have a love for their country. I am too soon in the project to think about all these things, but I hope it can happen.“
Q: What impressed you during your talks with the SFA?
SP: “Change can be a really aggressive word. It’s not like changing the page in a book. It is about trying to continue and improve for the benefit of Scottish football. I hope I can be the right man for this two year contract.
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“I think Craig [chief football officer Mulholland] and Ian [chief executive Maxwell] really want to help the process and continue to develop Scottish football in terms of structure and bringing through the young talent. They want to work more closely with the clubs and try to improve things. It is a positive approach. I hope it will be a good fit.”
Q: What, if anything, concerned you about the job?
SP: “I had some questions because I never go into a challenge without ticking all the boxes if I have a question mark. For me, one of the question marks was the fact I am a Belgian coach. Will the country embrace this?
“If I didn’t think about that I would be an egotist and I am not like that. But I got very positive feedback, that the country maybe needs something different. But, in a very humble way, I asked the question. For me that was the main question.
“With tactics, I wanted to see if the squad can play like I want them to play. What are the features of the squad? I got some positive answers.”
Q: Scotland’s first and last foreign manager Berti Vogts didn’t do well. Did that concern you?
SP: “It is a long time since Scotland had a foreign manager. Sometimes a national team goes for a coach from that country. It means they can identify closely with the side. Sometimes they don’t. But I think it is all about your personality and how you deal with the challenge at the end of the day. I will be one of you and try to achieve the best I can.”
Q: You have signed a two year deal. Do you hope that you can stay for longer?
SP: “Honestly, it is not really a question that I have asked myself. I am pragmatic about the timeline. I just think about what I have to do in the timeline. In modern football the length of the contract is not really relevant, it is about what you achieve in the period time you have. I just want to be successful in the time I have.”
Q: You have worked with Kevin Mirallas in the past. It has also been suggested that Steven Naismith will remain on the backroom team. Who will be on your coaching staff?
SP: “It is not decided yet. We will go through that process this week and next week. It will be nice to meet everyone and put faces to names. I have not built my staff yet. But I want to keep some heritage and also bring people that I know so I can accelerate the process. You have to manage the time as well as possible on a camp to get the benefit.”
Q: What did you think of Scotland at the World Cup?
SP: “It is difficult for me to give an opinion on what they did well and what they have to do better. But I think it is fantastic that Scotland were at the World Cup. I am here and I want to make a good impact.”
Q: You have played with a few Scottish footballers in your career. Have they been in touch?
SP: “I will be. I played with James Morrison, Graham Dorrans and Darren Fletcher at West Brom. They were good guys. Alan Irvine was also my coach there. I played with Jamie Murphy at Brighton and had a good time there. I have only positive memories about Scottish players.”
Q: Will you go to Scottish games every weekend?
SP: “I will try to go to games live and step by step feel the atmosphere and get to know the clubs, the players and the people. I know Wouter [Hearts manager Vrancken] because I have played with him and against him. But I will need to make appointments with people at the clubs so we can open discussions and create relationships which are to the benefit of football here.
“I want the best. I will try to make decisions which are good for the performance of the players on the pitch. That is very important for me – to create a good relationship with the players so they can give everything on the pitch. That is a full-time job. I hope I can do it.”
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