Speaker 1: Time for a soccer down here one v one. For
Speaker 1: this one, we got to Chattanooga and catch up with
Speaker 1: the new head coach at Chattanooga FC. The interim tag
Speaker 1: has been placed in a box, and the box is
Speaker 1: somewhere there at Fort Finley.
Speaker 2: Now Chris is the man in charge.
Speaker 1: Chris, congratulations, welcome to soccer down here in SDH, and
Speaker 1: thanks for hanging out for a one v one.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate having me as well.
Speaker 1: So what's it like having the business card adjusted to
Speaker 1: now reflect to just head coach and that interim ward
Speaker 1: is now off the business card?
Speaker 2: How's it feel?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good feeling. Obviously, I'm very happy at
Speaker 3: this club. So they get the opportunity to be the
Speaker 3: full time lead. I think are coaching, it's always interim.
Speaker 3: I think it's just sometimes that interim last three or
Speaker 3: four years, so hopefully that's the case here. But being
Speaker 3: in a club that I've burnt a love and say
Speaker 3: I've burnt a love and then an opportunity is huge,
Speaker 3: and I think I'm very fortunate. It doesn't always happen
Speaker 3: for coaches this way, so I'm pleased that I get
Speaker 3: to be part of it here.
Speaker 1: What'd you learn about yourself in those two matches when
Speaker 1: you were the interim head coach at CSC at the
Speaker 1: tail end of last season.
Speaker 3: I guess that I prefer to stand rather than sit
Speaker 3: for games. I tried to sitting, and it's a bit
Speaker 3: different as the head coach, I think. I think it's
Speaker 3: tough to know there's so much going on to really
Speaker 3: sit back and evaluate it. I think in a short
Speaker 3: term you kind of stick to who you are, and
Speaker 3: I think I did a good job of trying to
Speaker 3: be who I wanted to be in those those two games.
Speaker 3: I think continuing to adjust and adapt of how we
Speaker 3: use staff on game day will be something. Obviously, in
Speaker 3: such a short period, being a couple of men down
Speaker 3: on the sideline, we had to make on the fly
Speaker 3: adjustments and just make decisions right there and then so
Speaker 3: going forward to have a little bit more delegation and
Speaker 3: spread out will be will definitely be key.
Speaker 1: You mentioned you get to figure out who you are
Speaker 1: for or those that you might have only just got
Speaker 1: the chance to see you as a part of a bench,
Speaker 1: and then get to see you for those two matches
Speaker 1: as interim head coach, who are you when it comes
Speaker 1: to coaching, How are you stylistically and who are you?
Speaker 2: Who are you? I guess holistically when it comes to
Speaker 2: being a coach.
Speaker 3: I think my style is kind of possession based to
Speaker 3: create attacking chances I want to I would say possession
Speaker 3: becomes a byproduct of the attack, right the other way around,
Speaker 3: so trying to move the ball forward quicker. I'm big
Speaker 3: on principles of play, so giving the guys a little
Speaker 3: bit of freedom. If I can give them a structure
Speaker 3: and some ideas, they can interpret that how they want.
Speaker 3: I think that's the key thing with coaching. It really
Speaker 3: is down to the players. The best players will win games,
Speaker 3: so if I can help put them in the best
Speaker 3: situation as possible, that's going to give them a chance
Speaker 3: to be successful. I think off the field, I really
Speaker 3: value continued education. For me as a coach and the
Speaker 3: same as a player. I think we're always trying to
Speaker 3: teach you, whether you're teaching a playing style or teaching
Speaker 3: someone to be a little bit better in such situation.
Speaker 3: So I think that that feedback, that honesty and some
Speaker 3: clear structure I think helps with that. So that's what
Speaker 3: I've tried to do provide that that honesty and clarity
Speaker 3: to the guys, and that that's the plan to go forward.
Speaker 1: Who are your coaching touchstones when it comes to philosophy
Speaker 1: and you know, you mentioned how you like to see
Speaker 1: things represented stylistically out there on the pitch. Who are
Speaker 1: those that you kind of would watch matches of and
Speaker 1: watch their film and watch you know, film study and
Speaker 1: things like that. Who do you model yourself after stylistically
Speaker 1: and go, yeah, I need to pull from this guy.
Speaker 1: I need to pull from this guy. I need to
Speaker 1: pull from this guy.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's in one one person in particular.
Speaker 3: I think it's general. Attack in football is big for me.
Speaker 3: How to manipulate the opponent is big as well, So
Speaker 3: then I would say pressing would be also part of
Speaker 3: that as well. So teams that kind of fit that
Speaker 3: in it can adjust them. With a manager, obviously, everyone's
Speaker 3: going to say Guardiola, he's so good and everything. Really
Speaker 3: enjoyed watching club's team. I am a Tottenham fan or
Speaker 3: part Tottenham fan. I don't know if I could still
Speaker 3: say a fan. It's been a tough forty years watching them,
Speaker 3: but they've always had kind of an attacking style, whether
Speaker 3: it's been successful or not. I think I've grown up
Speaker 3: watching that and I you get the impression from the
Speaker 3: fansom who's there that I'd rather watch attack in football
Speaker 3: and lose than boring football and win, as we saw
Speaker 3: for a little bit of a few years with a
Speaker 3: few coaches ago. So I think really it's watching games
Speaker 3: and seeing how that impacts. I think it's very difficult
Speaker 3: to say I'm going to play like man City or
Speaker 3: I'm going to play like Liverpool because we don't have
Speaker 3: those players. The profile is very different. We're also in
Speaker 3: a different environment to them. So thinking that we're going
Speaker 3: to get American players from various countries to play like
Speaker 3: certain European guys who have just been brought up different
Speaker 3: is a little bit crazy. So it might be just
Speaker 3: certain moments of the game, whether it's how they create
Speaker 3: overloads in certain areas or how they may be pressing
Speaker 3: in certain structures. I think that's where I tried to
Speaker 3: copy and still when I can.
Speaker 2: Let's see.
Speaker 1: So if I'm thinking of Spurs, it's probably what Redknap,
Speaker 1: AVB Sherwood, Pochettino, Maurinho, Ryan Mason, who got a cup
Speaker 1: of coffee, Nuno Conte and then Ryan Mason again with
Speaker 1: Stellini and Onge. I'm sensing just in that group that
Speaker 1: there is some attacking that is there, especially with Onge
Speaker 1: and onge Ball, if you want to use quotes. So
Speaker 1: if I was to mention that group of Spurs, who
Speaker 1: did you grow up looking at? And then there is
Speaker 1: some attacking that was with those guys when they were
Speaker 1: in charge on the touch line.
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously Red Nap was very attacking, an interesting style
Speaker 3: of player. I think Pochettino probably was the biggest. I
Speaker 3: think that was the window where I really enjoyed being
Speaker 3: a Spurs fan. So obviously now I think we can
Speaker 3: see a little bit closer up coaching the national team.
Speaker 3: But him and obviously Postocoblu now being a coach, I've
Speaker 3: dropped that loyalty a bit. So obviously the other team
Speaker 3: in North London plays some very good football. Watching Bengo
Speaker 3: growing up, and I think having that attacking style with
Speaker 3: a lot of freedom for players and kind of that
Speaker 3: structure has been big. You're doing an excellent job over
Speaker 3: there now, So I will drop loyalties to seal ideas
Speaker 3: when and where I can, But I would say Pochettino
Speaker 3: basta Coogloo even abb for a bit at Tottenham and
Speaker 3: Rednapp as well. We're being I think there was a
Speaker 3: small counter attack and defensive selection of coaches there that
Speaker 3: wasn't quite as fun, but the others have been a
Speaker 3: little bit more free flowing and fun to watch. If
Speaker 3: I always say to the guys, if I'm gonna have
Speaker 3: to watch this six days a week, I want to
Speaker 3: enjoy it. So that is just attacking football for me.
Speaker 2: No doubt about it. And there's nothing wrong with saying that.
Speaker 1: The other team involving the the NLD, the North London Dark, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I completely and totally understand where that's coming from. How
Speaker 1: is it for you as a as a coach to
Speaker 1: manage all of the different personalities that are there at CFC,
Speaker 1: all the different nationalities. What's it been like for you
Speaker 1: to have that as a part of your education and
Speaker 1: your learning base, to navigate all the different personalities and
Speaker 1: all the different nationalities that come there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it could. Obviously, soccer is a world
Speaker 3: global game, so it's always been great for me obviously,
Speaker 3: as you told my accent to meet people from different places,
Speaker 3: different backgrounds, different upbringings, and I've been fortunate enough to
Speaker 3: travel around a little bit in the States and back
Speaker 3: home to meet new people. So I think it's great
Speaker 3: to have We're in a position now where we have
Speaker 3: these international guys coming in with different backgrounds, different ideas,
Speaker 3: and it's just fun getting to know them as well
Speaker 3: who they are as people, things they've done with previous
Speaker 3: pro coaches or as a youth, or how they played
Speaker 3: growing up. So I do enjoy that get to know
Speaker 3: the guys a little bit.
Speaker 1: What's it been like for you to learn about that
Speaker 1: particular section of Tennessee and how rabid they have become
Speaker 1: when it comes to Chattanooga FC, because there are times
Speaker 1: in previous leagues where when they were in the NPSL,
Speaker 1: you're selling out Fort Finley and you're playing Cosmo be
Speaker 1: for titles. What's it been like for you from an
Speaker 1: educational standpoint to experience what Chattanooga appreciates when it comes
Speaker 1: to the sport of football.
Speaker 3: It's been amazing, really, like being My first experience of
Speaker 3: Chattanooga was playing against them when I was with Stumptown
Speaker 3: a few years back, and that was also my first
Speaker 3: experience of the league, and I thought, wow, this is awesome,
Speaker 3: Like even though you're on the receiving end of some things,
Speaker 3: like the environment it creates for both sets of players,
Speaker 3: even potential rivalries with other fans as well. That's kind
Speaker 3: of what football is. It's a passion to people. So
Speaker 3: seeing that firsthand and being part of that, that's really
Speaker 3: cool experience. And then bleeding into the community. It's the
Speaker 3: same thing the city. It's not just on game days
Speaker 3: you'll see people walking around in the CFC gear. There's
Speaker 3: coffee mugs, there's beers. It's the guy in the uba
Speaker 3: that recognizes players. So that's cool to be a part
Speaker 3: of something that's maybe bigger than just what happens on Saturday.
Speaker 3: And then in the return how the club is off
Speaker 3: the field and you can kind of see why that
Speaker 3: relationship is there.
Speaker 1: How would you describe MLS next pro to someone who
Speaker 1: might be just kind of buzzing past it and going, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, I know that it's a part of the landscape,
Speaker 1: But how would you describe the quality of play and
Speaker 1: what you got to experience as a part of Chattanooga
Speaker 1: FC in this past season. How would you break down
Speaker 1: MLS next pro to someone who hasn't had the chance
Speaker 1: to be as embedded as you are.
Speaker 3: Obviously it's a young league, and I think people say
Speaker 3: that and then stop there. But the quality of the
Speaker 3: player is it's not a youth league or go off
Speaker 3: our youth league. It's young players that can play. It's
Speaker 3: an attacking kind of open league. I think it's entertainment
Speaker 3: to watch. You'll see both teams trying to win and
Speaker 3: both teams trying to make things happen consistently. That's probably
Speaker 3: why the league is quite open in terms of scores
Speaker 3: and goals. The level of play, I think is it's
Speaker 3: quite clear now even after two years of where potential
Speaker 3: guys playing in the first team teams, whether they're reaching
Speaker 3: national teams or even international transfers. So I think it's
Speaker 3: starting to speak for itself that quality. And then I
Speaker 3: think just it's the level of coaching as well. It's
Speaker 3: not just a second team. It's good coaches that have
Speaker 3: got good support and a real good understanding of the
Speaker 3: game and ideas of how they want to play within
Speaker 3: the club style. And you can see that the academies
Speaker 3: have fed into the second team, which is feeding into
Speaker 3: the first team. And is that I guess unity between them,
Speaker 3: which is really really good to watch as well, and
Speaker 3: that's I think why players are developing through the league.
Speaker 1: The regular season for twenty twenty four is over. Twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five will be here before we know it, because
Speaker 1: everyone says, oh, yeah, twenty twenty five. Yeah, the seasons
Speaker 1: on the other end of the calendar, Yeah, it's over there. No,
Speaker 1: it'll be here a lot sooner than a lot of
Speaker 1: folks think, what do you see as your larger challenges
Speaker 1: when it comes to MLS next Pro and Chatt NEUGEFCI,
Speaker 1: what are your big challenges as the season is going
Speaker 1: to be here before we know it.
Speaker 3: The challenge is always building the roster. There's in Division three,
Speaker 3: there's always going to be bigger teams, so no matter
Speaker 3: who you are, you're going to compete with that. Sometimes
Speaker 3: it'd be nice to get the business done early and
Speaker 3: have the full squad in, but it's just where we
Speaker 3: are in the landscape of soccer that there's going to
Speaker 3: be other teams that you're kind of waiting for that
Speaker 3: field of effect. I think a positive is having the
Speaker 3: pull of being independent, but that can be a negative
Speaker 3: too because maybe you don't have the resources or that hey,
Speaker 3: we'll throw you them with the first team X amount
Speaker 3: of times to lean on. So that's a good thing
Speaker 3: and a bad thing. I think overall it's more of
Speaker 3: a positive thing because of the fan base we have,
Speaker 3: the city is a really cool place to be. Everything
Speaker 3: the guys get off the field is good. That you're
Speaker 3: also playing for an independent team. I think that outweighs it.
Speaker 3: So you just have to be a little bit creative
Speaker 3: sometimes with trying to convince players maybe not to wait
Speaker 3: for something else and get them in here.
Speaker 1: Chris Nugent new head coach Atchattanooga FC and MLS Next
Speaker 1: Pro dropping by SDH for a one v one here
Speaker 1: As the regular season's over, Chris is getting ready for
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five season, which definitely will be.
Speaker 2: Here in short order.
Speaker 1: And when you got the the interim taken away and
Speaker 1: head coach became your business card. I assume you have
Speaker 1: either international minutes on your phone or you've got plenty
Speaker 1: of WhatsApp groups that you're in constant contact with. Was
Speaker 1: your phone blowing up? Was your WhatsApp blowing up? From
Speaker 1: both friends and perspective players sitting there going hey, I
Speaker 1: see what's going on here? A congratulations? B Can I
Speaker 1: talk to you about Chattanooga FC. What was the response
Speaker 1: like when you were named head coach.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I think we announced it Tuesday morning at
Speaker 3: ten and I left my phone on my desk and
Speaker 3: when I went back, it was every app you can
Speaker 3: think of people that reached out to me through social media,
Speaker 3: through WhatsApp, through text. I had some calls. Yeah, there
Speaker 3: was a lot of it from everywhere. So it's good.
Speaker 3: It's a nice feeling of people being pleased for you
Speaker 3: and being supportive. And then it's good now that people
Speaker 3: want to share players because there's going to be some
Speaker 3: whether it's themselves or the agents that are called and
Speaker 3: they've got some good plays, so to get on their
Speaker 3: radar that's important as well. So yeah, it's been busy.
Speaker 3: That's just part of the job.
Speaker 1: So without naming names, what was the furthest reaching professional
Speaker 1: contact that was had, and if you want to drop names,
Speaker 1: what was the furthest friend that reached out from you
Speaker 1: geographically to sit there and give you congratulations.
Speaker 3: I had an ex player in Italy reach out to me,
Speaker 3: a lot of friends from England, and then in the
Speaker 3: professional aspect, it would be I guess in terms of
Speaker 3: distance would be someone in Colorado, Okay, with a major
Speaker 3: league team there and then pretty much everything in between.
Speaker 2: To be honest, hey, and that's what I figured. I
Speaker 2: just wanted to say.
Speaker 1: I wanted to get the farthest reaching contacts because of
Speaker 1: all of the elements that are in play here. So
Speaker 1: then if I was to if I have not if
Speaker 1: I if I am a perspective player and I have
Speaker 1: not reached out to you yet, and I see on
Speaker 1: the wires or social media that Chris NuGen is the
Speaker 1: new head coach at Chattanooga FC, if I was interested
Speaker 1: in being a part of what you have planned there
Speaker 1: in the future and what Chattanooga FC has planned. I
Speaker 1: guess that in the Southeastern United States, we always have
Speaker 1: coaches who always go on recruiting visits. They want to
Speaker 1: go into the recruits house. They want to talk to
Speaker 1: the parents, they want to sit down, they want to
Speaker 1: sample the food. They want to try and recruit the
Speaker 1: individual to come and play for Chattanooga FC. If we
Speaker 1: were sitting in a living room, or if we were
Speaker 1: sitting in a business office someplace, and you were at
Speaker 1: one end of the table and I was at the other,
Speaker 1: how would you break down to me why I should
Speaker 1: come for you and be a part of chattanew GEVC.
Speaker 1: What would be your recruiting pitch for anybody who hasn't
Speaker 1: reached out to you yet.
Speaker 3: I would say, with the style of play, will be
Speaker 3: fun to be part of, I think fun to I
Speaker 3: think we're going to try and create a learning the
Speaker 3: environment and give some freedom to the guys, but help
Speaker 3: teach them. I hope that when guys leave here they've
Speaker 3: they've learned something, whether they've played all the minutes or
Speaker 3: another minutes. It's going to be an honest and open environment.
Speaker 3: We're going to be clear with who we are. I
Speaker 3: think guys will know where they stand. That will help
Speaker 3: them make their own decisions. I think you can show
Speaker 3: them maybe one clip of the Chattahooligans and I think
Speaker 3: that's enough to convince people. And I would even say
Speaker 3: have them drive through the city and see how cool
Speaker 3: is it? Like Chad movie is definitely a hit and
Speaker 3: gem out here. So that's a positive for now that
Speaker 3: we don't want too many people here. It's nice to
Speaker 3: be going to drive through downtown in seven minutes, but you.
Speaker 1: Got to tell them to fix what's going on on,
Speaker 1: you know, past north of town. Plast that twenty four
Speaker 1: split as they're head into the mountains.
Speaker 3: I don't go that way, So that's okay for me. Now, yeah,
Speaker 3: they could do with fixing that, I think for sure.
Speaker 3: But having the river here, having the mountains, all the
Speaker 3: growth in and around the city, I think that's a
Speaker 3: huge selling point. And then the supports, Like I think
Speaker 3: driving around the city you're going to see the identity
Speaker 3: of the club here. You can go out to any
Speaker 3: of the community foundation programs and see the identity of
Speaker 3: the club like we are a community club and there's
Speaker 3: evidence of that when you go out and look. I
Speaker 3: think that's really important to have. And I mean, the
Speaker 3: guys are going to play two hours a day. That's
Speaker 3: going to be fun to do. But I think living
Speaker 3: here and being part of the growth of this club
Speaker 3: that we're we might be at the end of it now,
Speaker 3: but it's in another ten years. We'll be a part
Speaker 3: of it in twenty years and thirty years and however
Speaker 3: long this club goes on for. So I think that's
Speaker 3: a cool thing that we've all the work that's been
Speaker 3: done before us, all the work that we're doing now,
Speaker 3: that bigger picture of where the growth is.
Speaker 1: Going and if there was one match you mentioned seeing
Speaker 1: a clip of the Chattahooligans and what they are as
Speaker 1: a part of the fabric. If there was a match
Speaker 1: that you could you know, sit there and point to
Speaker 1: YouTube and go okay, prospective player or individual watch this match.
Speaker 1: This would be the microcosm of what you would expect
Speaker 1: walking in the door. Is there is there a particular
Speaker 1: match that sticks in your mind or a particular goal
Speaker 1: from activity from this past season that would go, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what we want to do. If you want to
Speaker 1: be a part of it, come on in.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think the last two games was a
Speaker 3: good opinion. Obviously, the second half against Toronto, where we
Speaker 3: scored four goals is would be entertaining to share. I
Speaker 3: think in terms of obviously watching the fans, the fans
Speaker 3: are very supportive the matter of the game, the matter
Speaker 3: of the weather, So you could watch any any moment
Speaker 3: with them, the good and the bad results. But I
Speaker 3: think in terms of start of play it will be
Speaker 3: similar to what we saw in maybe the last two
Speaker 3: games we didn't quite get the result against New York
Speaker 3: will be a little bit more controlled and a little
Speaker 3: bit better defensively. I think we went with the Flossia
Speaker 3: just trying to outscore. It seems we have to get
Speaker 3: win the games the last two, so a little bit
Speaker 3: more control on the back half the field. But yeah,
Speaker 3: that attacking football. I think it was fun to watch,
Speaker 3: regardless of the result and the chances we created I
Speaker 3: think would be We'll continue to work on that and
Speaker 3: then maybe just the other end shut it down a
Speaker 3: little bit.
Speaker 1: Absolutely well Chris, first off, congratulations on becoming the new
Speaker 1: head coach up there a CHATMANFC. Thanks for dropping by
Speaker 1: for a one v one. You know we're gonna be
Speaker 1: knocking on your door here as we get ready for
Speaker 1: the holiday season twenty twenty five, and you know we're
Speaker 1: gonna come up and visit and hang out with you
Speaker 1: up there in Chattanooga. Congratulations, thanks for dropping by for
Speaker 1: a one v one. We'll catch up with you soon,
Speaker 1: my friend.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: I appreciate it. Have a good one.