Schalke v Manchester United: England's south coast helped hone skills of Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick
With its chugging power stations, industrial decay and miles of graffiti-splattered walls, Gelsenkirchen would appear to have little in common with the charming west Sussex parish town of Southwick. But had it not been for his stay on the south coast, Schalke manager Ralf Rangnick might today be standing in a classroom talking about verbs.
English education: Schalke manager Ralf Rangnick's outlook on football was partly shaped by his early experiences in England Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Jonathan Liew 12:08AM BST 26 Apr 2011
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It was in Southwick in the early 1980s where Rangnick honed his love of the game, while studying English at the University of Sussex with the intention of becoming a teacher.
He stayed with an English family in Brighton and sought a trial at the local football club, then playing in the Sussex County league.
“When I got introduced to him, I was trying to be funny,” remembers Southwick manager Jimmy Collins, who was a member of Tottenham's 1960-61 Double-winning squad.
“It was obviously going above his head.
"I remember telling him he couldn’t trap a bag of cement. He liked a bit of mickey-taking. And after a while, he could give it back. But we weren’t allowed to mention the war. That was an order.”
In Rangnick’s third appearance, he broke three ribs and punctured a lung, and only ended up turning out a handful of times for the club. But by all accounts, Rangnick was not much of a player anyway.
“He was a midfield player,” Collins says.
“Fetch-and-carry. A typical German grafter, but that was the only way he was going to get in the team. He wasn’t going to get in on his skill.
"I used to feel sorry for him, because I would take him out to do one-on-ones, get him to dribble the ball towards me, try and beat me. Being a nice Scottish guy, I let him pass me two or three times. And then kicked him.”
But Rangnick’s thirst for football was unquenchable.
While he was injured, he would travel to London to watch First Division games at Highbury, and he remembers seeing Arsenal play West Ham in the FA Cup final at Wembley in 1980.
Back at Southwick, he was noted for his diligence and dedication, staying behind after training to work on his ball skills, always keen to discuss tactics and systems.
For his first game, he turned up two hours before kick-off, and was bemused to see his team-mates strolling in at half past two and lighting up cigarettes.
Within four months of arriving in England, he was fluent in the language.
“He was an intelligent boy,” Collins says. “Better than average. I think he had something inside him wanting to get out.
"He obviously had some organising skills inside him, and you could see he was keen to get on in the game, but obviously he wasn’t a very good player.
“But,” he adds, “I never saw him as managerial material. He was still young, he wanted to be one of the boys, and managers normally stand out.”
So when did Collins find out that one of his former players was about to manage in a Champions League semi-final against Manchester United? “Yesterday,” he chuckles. “I never knew. But good on him.”
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