The responsibility and pressure of being a manager at an established football club can weigh heavy on the shoulders of the person in charge, putting emphasis on the importance of having the correct person by their side as assistant manager.
The role of the assistant manager can vary from club to club, depending on how the manager would like to operate throughout the week. As Jens Berthel Askou stepped off the plane from Denmark in Glasgow during the summer, his knowledge of the Scottish game would have been somewhat limited.
But with his last job being an assistant manager’s role at FC Copenhagen, he got straight to work in looking for the perfect candidate to stand by his side during his tenure.
That was when Askou would begin his relationship with Max Rogers. A highly respected and well-travelled assistant manager, full of optimism and energy. A man who has worked in Scotland, England and America, coaching and improving players as he went. One phone call – that’s all it took for Rogers to be convinced that Motherwell would be the right fit for him.
But before the 35-year-old made the journey to North Lanarkshire, his career path was an obscure one, and initially, football wasn’t the plan for him.
“I grew up playing rugby,” Max Rogers laughed.
“That was the first sport I played, and that was through my dad because he played rugby. My brother played too, so that was sort of pushed onto me. My mum and dad always made sure we grew up playing a lot of sports. But my first memory of football would have been in primary school, just like most people really.
“Playing in primary school, games on a Saturday morning and training. But when I was 11 or 12, I gave up rugby and started to focus on football. I enjoyed playing it more and then played for my local youth teams.
“I have some great memories of playing Under 15s and Under 17s, but I knew quite early on, probably when I was a late teenager, that I was never going to have a career as a football player. I could have played at some level, I think, but certainly not enough to earn a living from it, and that was when I turned towards coaching and when I first went up to college in Dundee to study an HND in Sports Coaching.
“I played for a junior team a little bit, but again, I felt like I’d rather be coaching during the week and then taking a game on a Saturday rather than playing. Playing is obviously amazing, but the levels I ended up playing, I felt I could coach better. So I wasn’t too concerned about putting playing to the side and focusing on the coaching.
“Without having a playing career, I was thinking about how I could trump an ex-player in terms of putting myself in a better position.”
Feeling like he was starting behind the pack within the coaching world, Rogers began to make up the ground through education and experience. With his dad moving to Lockerbie for work, Rogers crossed the border into Scotland, the place where he took his next steps in the coaching world.
“A few of my friends went off to university in Dundee,” Rogers explained.
“My grades at school weren’t great, so it wasn’t a case of going straight to university or anything like that, but on reflection, it worked out amazingly because we had amazing lecturers. A man called Ewan Peacock, who I still stay in contact with today. He was an early mentor for me and gave me some great opportunities and was a good role model to have.
“The course had the practical side. I had to coach things like gymnastics, which was miles outside my comfort zone. You picked three sports; I picked football, badminton and gymnastics. It was one of those moments where you’re like, ‘How am I going to do this?’ It was so far from my comfort zone. I just didn’t know anything about it.
“It was a great example of learning outside of what you know. Even learning how to speak and coach people. College was practical, and it gave me great insight, and we did some programmes with the SFA; one was going into the local schools and working with the kids there. Ewan ran Aberdeen’s Development Centre in Dundee, so that was my first taste of working with young, elite players.
“Going back slightly, however, in my last year at school, I wondered about working in football. That was around the time Jose Mourinho went to Chelsea. His background wasn’t playing either; I think he played at a lower level in Portugal, and his dad was his connection, as he used to be a goalkeeper and a manager.
“So he had that in straight away, but it came out that he went to his mum, and she wanted him to go to business school. He didn’t want to go down that route and enrolled in sports science. When I found out about that as a younger man, it felt like my ideal route could be possible. There is a way to get into professional football without necessarily having a playing career.
“My mum and dad wanted me to go down a safer route, but my big lightbulb moment of life, as it were, was when I went to Ghana to coach as a volunteer for a month. When I left school, I worked in a cheese factory. It was 6pm over the Christmas period, pitch black going into this factory, and I had to print the use-by dates on the labels for the cheese. I started packing it, but then I moved into a different role. But I just remember thinking that I never wanted to be in this position again.
“I have huge respect for people who work in those types of jobs; it’s a gruelling work-life. But I just never wanted to do it. It was a way to save money for me to go to Ghana, and that was my big life-changing moment when I did make it out there. We flew out and were assigned to a local team.
“I would have been 18, and everyone was just happy and enthusiastic. I’d only ever done a couple of lower-level SFA courses by this stage, so it was eye-opening to see how much football can change people’s lives. When I came back from that trip, I had an interview to join the police, because that was the route my dad sort of felt I should go down and then do some football on the side. But the Ghana trip lit a fire in me to go for it in football. I didn’t go to that interview and applied to the college.”
Rogers enjoyed two successful years at Dundee College, learning the ropes of the industry he dreamed of working in. He then rounded off his educational journey at Edinburgh Napier University for two years, studying sport and exercise science with sports coaching. Increasing his knowledge on the theory of sports injuries, rehabilitation analysis, biomechanics, and many other elements, he was well on his way to taking a major step forward in his coaching career.
As much as the theory and work in educational institutions is critical, nothing quite compares to working in a professional environment in the field or industry you wish to pursue. And that was the next key step for Rogers, so he applied for an analysis role at St Mirren, despite not being too keen on the job title.
“I try to get away from that tag,” he laughed.
“I did all the coaching badges, well, as many as I could, and coached at some local boys’ teams and saw a position as a volunteer analyst at St Mirren. I just applied for it, not through wanting to be an analyst, but to get the experience and my foot in the door, so to speak. I didn’t want to become someone who worked in a sports club or become a personal trainer, because you see so many people who do coaching go down those paths.
“Without that experience of working in elite sport or football, that’s often the route you take. David Longwell was there, again another great mentor for me, and I worked for a season. I think it was around the time John McGinn was sort of breaking through, but I wasn’t involved in any of the coaching. Stevie Mallan and Jack Baird were there or thereabouts too. Davie had built up an amazing academy, and although analysis wasn’t the role I wanted, I knew modern football was becoming more analytical, so there was nothing wrong with getting this experience. I just didn’t want to be called a geek or anything!
“When I finished university, I had passed my B-licence and went back down to the Lockerbie area and started coaching with Annan Athletic. It was part-time, but it was my first taste of coaching at a club in the SPFL Pyramid. I stayed in contact with David, and he managed to sort something with Brian Caldwell for me to come back to St Mirren. I think I would have been 23 or 24, and I was coaching the Under 15s in the evenings and then was around the Under 20s during the day. David just chucked things at me; I was never truly ready for it, but it makes you ready.
“I’ll be forever grateful for that because it made me so much better and gave me great experiences. And then, David went to a convention that American clubs host, and it turned out Orlando City were looking for an academy director. He spoke to the right people and managed to get me an interview to go to too. I remember we were training one night, and he just pulled me to the side to say I got the job at Orlando.”
From there, Rogers made the journey to America to begin the next chapter of his life at Orlando City. A club and academy that was at its infancy in 2016, Rogers got to work immediately. Spending over a year in Florida, he adjusted to the American culture and got further experience in the coaching world. From dealing with angry parents to learning a new strategy of developing young players for the MLS, he thrived in this environment.
But as with most things in professional sport, things can change in an instant. And just like that, Rogers had his next sliding doors moment in his career at the start of 2018.
“David had got an offer from New York Red Bulls to become their Academy Director,” the Motherwell Assistant Manager added.
“Things behind the scenes at Orlando went a bit iffy because they wanted to cut costs. He spoke to me about going to New York, but at Orlando, Anthony Pulis, Tony Pulis’ son, was the Orlando B head coach, and we’d built up a working relationship. I wouldn’t have even said we were friends, but we would bounce ideas off each other and ask opinions. With Orlando looking to save money, Anthony got the manager’s job at St Louis.
“I got a call from him, and he asked if I would be interested in coming with him. When I weighed whether to go to New York to work with David in the academy or work with Anthony at a professional level with first-team players, I had to go to St Louis. Covid-19 happened, and in the background at St Louis, they always spoke about getting an MLS team. Generally, if the city gets an MLS club, there are no other teams. St Louis were in the USL Championship at this stage, and I had been working there for three years, and the club folded.
“With an MLS team established, there was no point in running a USL team. Then David got in touch. He was at Shrewsbury Town and needed someone to oversee the Academy, as those in those positions had moved, as the manager there wasn’t well with COVID. I wasn’t really looking to return to America, but I got an offer from Martin Rennie with Indy Eleven. It felt like a great chance to go and win the league out there.
“I’m so grateful to Shrewsbury for understanding because it wasn’t nice to leave so soon after joining.”
With just four quick months spent back in England, Rogers moved back across the pond to work with Indy Eleven as Assistant Manager. However, with the club having just gone through a tricky season, Rogers would only be assistant manager for two months before assuming the position of caretaker manager. This would be Rogers’ first crack at a managerial position, but it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for him.
“When I reflect back on it, I could have done things so much differently,” he stated.
“I was really young; I think about 30. I had some great senior players like Nicky Law and Cammy Smith, who has played at St Mirren and Aberdeen. I had good staff working with me, but they were only part-time. So they’d come in for training and then would have other things to do. It gave me a really good taste of being a manager. Before that time, I would have 100% said I would have wanted to be a manager. But after that, it maybe dropped to 70%. I was still so young, which was the main factor at that point.
“Indy spoke to me and said they wanted to bring in a new coach, and on the same day, the phone went again, and it was Anthony Pulis. He was about to join up with FC Miami and asked if I wanted to be his assistant. I don’t think I ever truly enjoyed being there; unless you’ve got millions of pounds, you can’t like the high life. Working with Anthony was great.”
After spending a year with Miami, Rogers completed his Pro Licence online, which was where he met Shaun Maloney for the first time. A phone call to Maloney, ironically for a personal reason, led to the Wigan manager explaining that a vacancy could be open for a new coach to come in and work with the first-team. Having left another impression on someone, Rogers was filled with confidence that he was being approached once again by a personal contact.
Going into Wigan, who were in the relegation zone at the time, Rogers and his new colleagues tried to pull off the great escape as they aimed to keep their side in the Championship. Unfortunately, they came up short, which could be explained by excruciating factors such as a points deduction.
But it wasn’t all negative. A mid-table finish in League One was to follow, including an FA Cup tie against Manchester United, and working with a manager who has coached at the highest level ensured Rogers learnt plenty during his time at Wigan. After leaving Wigan in March of this year, Rogers eyed up his next move. But once again, the contact book would be his biggest aid.
“I was down in England on a coaching course, and I had a missed call from Jens Berthel Askou,” Rogers said.
“After seeing it, I was left wondering what the Motherwell manager wants with me. So I got home and googled Motherwell and saw that the assistant manager had just left. So, I phoned back, and he explained the situation to me and that my name had been brought to his attention. We chatted about a range of topics, as well as getting to know each other on a personal level.
“The call was three hours long. Meanwhile, as this call is going on, I’m Googling in the background to find out more about his career and what not. And this is the strange part, and I swear it’s true. Just a couple of days before this call, my mum texted me and asked if I’d watched the new Motherwell manager’s press conference, and she said that he’d be good for me to work with! So, at least we’ve got her support early on.
“It just blossomed from there really; at the end of the conversation I tried to play it cool, but let’s be honest, it was a no-brainer! The impression he had left on me got me excited, especially when he spoke about his vision for football, which was so aligned with mine. I spoke to my wife very briefly to just let her know I’m taking this job! I’m grateful for Brian Caldwell putting my name forward like that too; obviously I left an impression on him.”
After starting the league campaign unbeaten, receiving plaudits up and down the country for their playing style and having the backing of every Motherwell supporter in the stands, Rogers and his new boss Jens Berthel Askou have started strong in the Fir Park hot seats. But what does the Motherwell number two put that down to?
“The biggest part of all this is the players,” he explained.
“Having the players capable of playing the way the manager wants to play is important. The manager and Nick Daws deserve so much credit for the recruitment because the squad was thin at the start, which allowed them the chance to build the squad the way they wanted to. The manager is clear on what he wants, but he’s not stubborn. He believes in what he wants, but he’ll take ideas and suggestions, which makes it so much easier as staff because it means the principles are clear when you’re coaching drills. But all the staff down there are knowledgeable, but forgetting that for a minute, they’re all good people that enjoy being in each other’s company.
“That rubs off onto the players. It’s important to win and do everything we can do to achieve that, but it’s about enjoying it because during my time out from Wigan, I realised as much as it’s key to win, you have to have fun with it. It’s a hard industry, and it’s long hours; the element of enjoyment is necessary. The players deserve credit for being so coachable and open. The senior players run the dressing room perfectly, which rubs off on every player in there. They’ve all taken on board the information we’ve given them, and there’s a lesson in there. There are things you can do, but maybe you just don’t see it in you.
“If someone can point it out and help, it can come to the fore.”
Now, as Rogers reflects on his football career so far, it’s hard for him to have envisaged all those years ago that the boy who was working in the cheese factory could have worked in elite football. But that’s where he’s got to through his hard work and planning.
“This is from my dad a bit, but I always wrote out goals and ambitions,” he said.
“It seems a bit silly, but when I reflect back, I’ve ticked most of them off. I don’t think I could have pictured being here back then. I’ve had amazing experiences, but I want to keep going and get to the highest level I can, continue to learn and maybe make that next step up. But I’m in no rush. This role has been a thrill so far. Motherwell as a club is filled with great people, and I don’t mean just on the football side of things.
“Everywhere around the club there are good people working so hard for little recognition. It’s a perfect place to work, learn and enjoy. But I’ll enjoy it even more when we get our first league win!”
