The Tottenham boss reveals his most-wanted golf fourball, and explains why yoga and golf have helped him on the touchline and away from the game.
What’s your golf handicap?
Right now it’s 14. I’ve been playing for a while, I like competition where it falls to me, I’m competing against everybody else but I’m not relying on somebody else to achieve things. It helps me to switch off and disconnect, I’m still being active and proactive health wise, but it helps me to disconnect from football.
What first got you into the sport?
One of my uncles got me into golf. He played a lot and I started to go with him, then from a young age I started to play and I just kept it up as a hobby and interest. It’s something I can turn to in the summer and on my days off, and whenever we get time available I’ll try to play. It’s been a huge part of my life for a while, and that was driven by my family.
Do you still think about football when you’re on the course?
There'll be some parts I’ll be thinking about, but what I try to do is put on a podcast and put my earphones in. I try to listen to something that’s totally different to my day-to-day work and daily life. So maybe non-football leadership, management or different business organisations, or about anyone in business who is successful, and trying to understand why they are successful, or where they started. I’m interested in learning about management, like how you manage upwards as well as sideways, so trying to find different ways to be a better coach and a better head coach.
Do you watch golf, or do you just like to play?
I watch it quite a lot when it’s on, especially now we have a TV in the office with those channels on. When you can relate to a sport, I understand it more, and when you understand it more you can find a better connection. There’s also a lot of successful golfers from where I’m from, in Liverpool, so when they’re playing, I will try to cheer them on too.
Who are your favourite golfers to watch?
Tommy Fleetwood, he’s from near me in Liverpool. Jordan Spieth is really good, then there are icons like Rory Mcilroy, Tiger Woods and so on. I try to watch the ones who go under the radar, so Jordan Spieth is a big one for me, Tommy Fleetwood another one, there’s a lot of others who play in the different competitions and tournaments, but they are the biggest two for me.
Who is your dream fourball?
I would probably say myself, Tommy Fleetwood, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods.
Where is your favourite course?
I’ve played in Spain a few times. I’ve played in England a lot, and Norway when I was managing which was nice because there were a lot of courses in the city I was in. I’d say Marbella, in Spain. There are beautiful views, and lots of different courses to play on.
Are there any other competitive golfers at the club?
There are! The goalkeeping coach, Ian Wilcock, Adam Jeffrey, James the analyst plays, the previous goalkeeping coach played too. There’s quite a lot who play, and there’s probably more who I’m missing, but there’s some good ones in the playing squad too. I think we would have some good competition between ourselves.
Coaching can be quite tough and demanding, how important is it to have hobbies and interests outside of the game?
It’s massively important, it helps you disconnect from your daily life. When you’re in the season, it’s intense day to day, there’s a lot of demand, a lot of pressure, sometimes that you put on yourself as well as what you feel from staff and players, and the organisation – that’s part of the job. So having things where you can disconnect, not even just hobbies and interests but having your family to disconnect, doing things to take your mind away from what you do on a daily basis.
You like doing yoga too, so do golf and yoga help you stay refreshed?
Massively. When you’re disconnected or switched off it’s about your body, your wellbeing, your mental health, your physical health. By doing that and going into other things I’m able to connect, disconnect, and reconnect, which gives me more energy and more enthusiasm, and enables me to give a lot more to the players and the staff.
Would you encourage your players to take up hobbies outside of football for their free time?
The pressure they are under to perform as athletes and as professionals, it’s intense day to day. I know a lot of them have a lot of hobbies, whether that’s sport related or going for a coffee, a walk, listening to music or podcasts. If you can find a balance with what you do on a daily basis, where you can switch off, they can find happiness.
How important is your mental wellbeing in today’s game, compared to where it’s been?
You see a lot of conversations around mental health, or people losing their life, or taking their own lives, so so we need to show – as professionals – that your mental health and wellbeing are a really important aspect not just your professional life but your daily life as it can have an instant impact on the people around you and the way they are as individuals. It’s an ongoing topic and something everyone should strive to be better at. We all need to do things for ourselves and maybe that’s a selfish way of thinking of it, but your own health is your wealth, and we need to be switched on and proactive. You can only do that when you’re in a good space, and that takes a lot of individual work to make sure you do things that are right for you.
On the back of mental wellbeing, what inspired you to take up yoga?
When you’re coaching you’re involved a lot physically, so making sure I am still looking after my body as a coach and coping with the demands of being on the training pitch, and putting demands on myself, is important. So I am trying to make sure I have good physical health, not just for work but for my personal life, so that I am able to do things I want to do physically. Yoga is one where I can relax and switch off, and come back down in a steady state. It also helps me with my mobility.
Has yoga helped you become a better coach on the field?
It’s definitely helped me relax more. The players and staff might have a different answer but it’s certainly helped me come down to a steady state, switch off a lot more, and be a lot calmer in certain moments. It has also helped me understand the importance of mental and physical health and making sure I can get those two to align.
Would you recommend yoga to the staff and players?
For me, or anyone who is in sport, or not, how can you make sure that you’re not just looking after your body from the outside, but on the inside too? I think it's really important for me and for people in sport, and it enables your muscles to not just relax but to recover and be proactive more physically when you're on the pitch. It also helps prevent me from getting any niggles, and enables my muscles to be firing when they need to be.
Has yoga helped you deal with the pressure of a matchday?
It has with my mindset, because it has enabled me to be calmer in certain moments and make clearer decisions. When I’m doing yoga for 45 minutes I’m relaxed and chilled out and in a place where I’m switched off, and I try and translate some of those behaviours and moments to decisions when I’m making them. It helps play a part in my behaviours and supports my leadership.
