Dec 3, 2024
Today we speak to a man who has been in and around
football for over 40 years. Mark Bowen played over 400 games at the
top of English football for the likes of Tottenham, Norwich and
West Ham, before transitioning into management as both a head coach
and assistant. For much of his management career he has partnered
with Mark Hughes, acting as his assistant manager at Man City,
Stoke, Southampton, Fulham and QPR.
Most recently Mark has spent a number of years with
Reading, and is currently going through a delicate process around
his exit from the club; a conversation for another time.
However this is something that we have wanted to do
for a long time. Quite a lot of our shows fall into the more
serious ‘business of sport’ category. Having got to know Mark, this
is someone that has seen the inner workings of clubs transacting at
the highest level, and has some incredible stories to tell off the
back of it. From being at Man City when they were bought by Sheik
Mansour and the Abu Dhabi Group to being in the opposing dugout for
QPR when Aguero scored THAT goal, this played to the kid in both of
us while emphasising the fact that the business of football isn’t
always a smooth process.
Kick back and enjoy some proper tales of signings,
sackings, and outrageous transfer bidding.
On today’s show we discuss:
The birth of the new Man City:
- Which players did Sheik Mansour
want to sign as a statement transfer when he bought the club?
- How do you integrate a load of
new players to form a cohesive team when the money is flowing and
budgets are virtually endless.
- The incredible transfer story of
signing both Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta after the sale of
one key player, and the conversation he had to have with Kompany
when he arrived.
- Lionel Messi for £35m? How the
club accidentally bid for one of the greatest players ever.
- Why was Mark Hughes fired by the
club with the club flying in both the league and cups, and what
happens to managers when they get that call?
Tales from Stoke, Southampton, and QPR:
- Turning Stoke into a top
performing Premier League club who were able to attract top
European talent like Bojan and Shaqiri.
- Overseeing a QPR team struggling
for survival in the League with Joey Barton as captain and Tony
Fernandes as owner.
- The Man City title win story…from
the QPR dugout: what does Mark attribute that memorable Aguero
moment to?
- Moving to Southampton and the
challenge of managing top teams when there is an agreement to sell
players you want to keep.
Football vs Money:
- Harry Redknapp’s reaction to Mark
leaving West Ham to sign for a Japanese club…and the number that
persuaded him the offer was too good to turn down.
- How to manage your personal life
in football when the team takes you away from your family and home.
Is it worth it?
- Is it always about the money, or
do players need to be incentivised by other things in and around
clubs?
- Where was Mark at his happiest
both as a player and a manager?
WSC Sports
https://wsc-sports.com/
Tyndall Investment Management
https://tyndallim.co.uk/