The former Chelsea chief scout is learning at Hamburg the technical director's job that is not really recognised in Britain
As Lee Congerton stood alongside Frank Arnesen at the end of a long and extraordinary night in Munich on Saturday, there were warm handshakes from their Bundesliga rivals. "We were surrounded by some other clubs in Germany and they were the first to congratulate us, which was quite an unusual feeling," says Congerton, Hamburg's technical director. "I think in Germany they see us as Chelsea people working in the Bundesliga."
It is not surprising. Congerton and Arnesen spent six years at Stamford Bridge before arriving at Hamburg last summer. Arnesen was the name that grabbed all the headlines when he left his role as sporting director at Chelsea to take up the same position at Hamburg but it is measure of how highly he thinks of Congerton, who finished up as chief scout at Stamford Bridge, that he was keen for the 38-year-old Welshman to come with him.
It was a rare chance for a young Briton to work abroad in a senior position at a top European club, though a few things have not quite turned out as planned. Congerton and Arnesen agreed three-year contracts with Hamburg in early 2011 but, when they arrived in Germany a few months later, the president who appointed them had gone, the coach had been replaced by his assistant, the €15-20m transfer pot had turned into a deficit and the wage bill needed to be cut.
A chaotic summer followed as 14 players departed, including established names such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, the Brazilian Zé Roberto, veteran goalkeeper Frank Rost and the Germany international Piotr Trochowski. Among those who replaced them were five fringe players from Chelsea – Michael Mancienne, Slobodan Rajkovic, Jacopo Sala, Gokhan Tore and Jeffrey Bruma – raising a few eyebrows among those who imagined Arnesen's appointment would lead to an influx of eye-catching signings.
The reality, though, is that it was a blessing Arnesen has Roman Abramovich's number on speed dial. "Once we knew the financial constraints, our priority from day one changed completely and it was very much 'wir müssen in der Bundesliga bleiben'," Congerton says. "We were unable to go for the big players that we had been talking to because the salaries were coming down and we had no money to spend, so we had to go for players that we knew and whom Frank could convince to come here. And, ultimately, the owner at Chelsea was very supportive and prepared to help."
Hamburg avoided the ignominy of relegation from the Bundesliga for what would have been the first time in their history, although there were a few anxious moments along the way. Indeed, it sounds as if it has been a tough and testing 12 months for Congerton, yet after spending the best part of a day in his company at Hamburg's Imtech Arena, there is plenty of excitement about the future and not the slightest suggestion that he regrets leaving Chelsea.
"It's definitely the right decision at this time in my life to have a new experience and I'm delighted I've come here," says Congerton, who has moved to Germany with his wife and two daughters. "I certainly don't like losing.
"It hurts so much. And I've lost more than I've ever lost this year. But I can see what we're trying to do off the field. We're growing a system and some players. The city is fantastic. And everyone has so much passion for HSV. I'm just glad Frank has given me the opportunity and believed in me.
"I would love to see this role grow in England because I think it can offer so much to clubs. [Manchester] City and Chelsea are the big clubs that have it, Brian Marwood at City and Michael [Emenalo] at Chelsea, there's Dan [Ashworth] at West Brom and Damien [Comolli] did it at Liverpool, so the role does exist. But here in Germany every club has it and it's very much about the medium- to long-term development. And that's maybe a problem with the English game – the coach goes, big pay out and off we go again."
Congerton believes there is a misconception about what the job entails. "I think it is frowned upon a lot in England because the managers don't really understand what the role is. In England it's perceived that the sporting or technical director is signing players that he wants to play in the team.
But we don't bring a player here that the coach doesn't want – ultimately he has to play them in the team. What we do is try to minimise the risk, so that we know the player and gather detailed information on them because the coach also has to understand that the sporting director has a responsibility to the organisation."
To illustrate his point Congerton runs through the process behind signing the Latvian striker Artjoms Rudnevs from Lech Poznan this month. Statistics have become more important in recruitment and Rudnevs' numbers, sourced from a database of 10,000 European players controlled by Steven Houston, another former Chelsea employee, were "exceptionally high". The next stage is to view video clips and, if Congerton likes what he sees, as was the case with Rudnevs, a scout will go to watch the player and compile a dossier listing everything from language skills to alcohol consumption. Congerton and Arnesen then travelled to see Rudnevs in action before discussing the merits of signing the player with the manager, Thorsten Fink.
Fink is completely at ease with a structure that also sees Congerton work closely with the first team. "We do a lot of appraisal with the players individually, looking at them technically, tactically, physically, mentally, athletically and their lifestyle," Congerton says, clicking on Bruma's name to pull up some footage. "Jeffrey has a problem with crosses, with his body position, so we have done work with him on the video showing him clips. We set the model up, the coach understands what we want to do and his assistants will sit down with the player and go through the details."
There are so many other strands to Congerton's job, including engaging with the players out on loan, like the Germany Under-21 international Maximilian Beister, who has just returned from Fortuna Düsseldorf – "He was on loan before we arrived and I went to speak to him and he said nobody had ever done that before" – and implementing a philosophy in the academy that he hopes will produce homegrown coaches, as well as talented players, who are able to climb up through the ranks.
If only he could have those responsibilities in England one day. "I speak to Frank about it. He's my mentor and role model. Since he left home and went to Ajax he's been travelling ever since. That's maybe something I'm going to be doing myself unless the role will grow back in England," Congerton says. "I'm very much established here with the family but the dream in years to come would be to help a manager be successful at a big Premier League club and put some footprints in the sand for the role to grow for others." Read More
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