The Final piece of the puzzle! This is the final chapter of the three part series on my time at FC Copenhagen. For those who have missed the previous two, head back to catch up. There's some great lessons in all of them.
I hope you enjoy it, we'd love any feedback!
Match day is their day’ – remember your place & know when to be 'wallpaper'
Picture this...
You can hear the crowd cheering (‘Section 12’ in Copenhagen are LOUD), the lights are on and you’re decked out in team kit feeling like the glory days. This is where you’re going to put in your best effort to make sure the players have got everything they need. Make sure you ask them if they need help with their activation work, correct their technique, ask them if they need a drink 3 times and remind them how last time they won, your kids loved it.
STOP!
Go back to the physio room, and do what is asked of you by the players and medical team, this is their workday, don’t get in the way. The team at FCK called it 'being wallpaper.' A skill especially needed at halftime when down, or after a tough loss 😁... not the time to provide any unsolicited advice.
We all mean well, want to help and want the team to win. It is key to remember two things; 1) You’re support staff & 2) only do what needs to be done. Less is more in this situation; this is their time to perform, they know what they need. This was a focus at FCK, and I really respected the approach.
Too many chefs – The Power of a Small Team
My perception of European soccer/football was about as accurate as some of the Danish boys’ perception of Australia. Ride your kangaroo to work situation.
I pictured ‘Manchester City’ in my head. Glistening squat racks, inside training facilities, a physio and S and C staff member for every player, and those car seats on the bench.
Turns out, not quite accurate.
FCK is the biggest team in the Danish SuperLiga, but that doesn’t come close the buying power and facilities of the EPL or Spanish La Liga. I’ll admit, at first I was a little surprised, maybe even disappointed. That changed, when I realised, it’s ‘not what you’ve got, but how you use it’. There are positives in having a small team and intimate facilities. With big teams and big money seems to bring more staff directed pressure to show value and less job security.
When people act out of fear, they rarely make the best choices.
Mainly from anecdotes from others, I have heard this often results in departments butting heads, and in-fighting within departments in an attempt to ‘stay off the bottom of the food chain’ in order to dodge the annual axe that swings each off-season. Inevitably, this results in confusing and conflicting messages to players, forcing them to either pick sides or are stuck in the middle.
“Everyone at FCK has a voice, and it is a right to be heard. If you have a MSc or a ranking title your input is as worthy as anyone else on the medical team” - David Cosgrave
With a team comprising of one head of performance, two physios, two strength and conditioning and two doctors, everyone can be involved in all meetings and decisions. The intimate size of the meetings facilitates people’s confidence in putting their viewpoint across. Most importantly, everyone has a clear understanding of their role within the team. This prevents systems for the sake of systems, and micromanagement often leading to role confusion and professional ‘turf wars’.
‘Leave your finger prints on everything’ – See a problem, fix it
I noticed in my time at FCK that Dave is a ‘fixer’. As he is working, if he identifies a problem he seeks to find a solution and better system or circumstance at hand. This is obviously his role in a management sense at FCK, but this ‘fixing’ extended beyond that.
Multiple times I saw and heard Dave discussing with other staff members how things could be improved across the league or in the Academy. Whether it was a communication procedure to management or safety on match day in the Super League and leagues below.
Dave came to FCK with a wealth of experience from ‘top flight’ football in England, and he sees it as his duty to apply those skills in places where they are in demand and can make an impact. This is irrespective whether it is something in his job description or not. I asked him about some of this one day and he said ‘my little project to make the world a better place, you’ve got to leave your fingerprints everything you touch’.
That struck a cord with me. In a sense it aligns with what I am trying to do with Enhance. I want to make Physiotherapy, and especially new grad and sub elite sports physiotherapy a better, and more highly refined area with more accessible high quality PD. At the moment the best way I can do this, is passing on anything I learn that I think would be valuable to those in my stage of their career or younger.
Pay it forward & Welcome criticism
After my last commitment at FCK(A fantastic 4-2 win at home), I sat down with Dave over a beer and had a more informal debrief. He was keen to give me any advice I was after, answer any questions I had, and help me with my career in any way he could. You could tell he was genuinely interested in trying to help me get where I wanted to go in any way that he could.
His first key piece of advice…‘Get out of the UK when you can, Brexit is coming!!’ 😂 Could be valid who knows. On a more serious note, I think really showed how he got where he has. Helping and being maybe helped at times.
His last request from me was to provide some feedback to himself and the club. He had explained to me earlier how he likes taking Australian masters students to learn and bounce ideas off them. Initially, I didn’t really see what I could add being a young and much less experienced clinician. My little ‘fingerprint’ at FCK came in the form of a presentation on calf & soleus injuries. I applied the knowledge gained at The Australian Ballet, to football. It was rewarding and exciting to see this implemented into FCK’s Injury Reduction & Physical Performance Program, and will remain within it.
This feedback process reiterated to me that there’s a constant need to seek feedback and critique… it's the only way to improve. Just as importantly, it also showed me that you, as a young therapist, are in a position to provide feedback. Your opinion matters to the more senior staff, or at least it should. Just like when someone walks past your crossword and nails the one you’ve been stuck on for hours… A fresh set of any eyes can be helpful for any situation.
That's all folks...
My time at FC Copenhagen taught me more than I realised. It really only became clear just how much when I sat down to write this, as it turned out, LONG blog post. This reflective practice stuff works! FCK taught me things I didn't expect to learn. Keeping an open mind to learning things away from the clinical reasoning and manual therapy space is a key factor to improving our care and progressing our profession. Can't wait to go back! Lucky I'll be in the neighbourhood for a while.
I’d like to thank FC Copenhagen for having me for my time there. Specifically, I’d like to thank Simon, Jesper, Alex, Jonas, Anders, Morten and Dave for allowing me to be part of the team. A big thank you to the coaching and all other staff for treating me as just another employee, it was a great experience.