Former Newcastle left-back Bernard criticises British coaching but has big plans for Durham City

At the age of 34, Olivier Bernard should be entering the twilight of his career. He should be thrilling fans with intermittent bursts of energy down the left flank, delivering tackles and crosses in equally devastating measures. Young team mates should be queuing up for advice, listening patiently to tales amassed from his years of experience. His agent should be urging him to find one last payday before an afterlife of punditry and coaching. But destiny took Bernard into a different direction. Forced to retire at 27, the former Newcastle United star walks in agony because of the hip injury that derailed his promising career.


Bernard was a France international in the making, playing in Sir Bobby Robson’s thrilling team from 2001-2004. It was young, vibrant, fearless and blessed with pace – a team that should have ended Newcastle’s embarrassing trophy drought. He helped the Magpies beat the mighty Juventus in the Champions League, took part in a wonderful 3-1 win away to Arsenal and scored from a freak cross at Old Trafford. Yet to some, their main memory of the Parisian was his comedic stutter to the ground after being accidently smashed in the head by Laurent Robert’s point-blank kick.



Everything looked good for Bernard, until Sir Bobby was sacked in 2004. His replacement, Graeme Souness, told Bernard in his office that the left back wasn’t very good and that Celestine Babayaro was set to replace him. Within three years – after briefly showing up at Southampton, Rangers and Newcastle again – his playing days were over. After a period of reflection, he decided to re-enter the sport he loves and, last December, Bernard became owner and chairman of Durham City AFC, who dwell in the ninth tier of English football. An interesting choice, inspired by the Frenchman’s love of the North East.


“I went for Durham City because the potential of Durham is fantastic and they should be amongst the likes of Hartlepool or Darlington”, he tells me. “I wanted to get back into football and give back what it gave me.” But it wasn’t easy to just walk into the club. In 2008, the club became Northern League champions and were one of the few from recent times to accept promotion. They won the Northern Premier League Division One North at the first attempt and found themselves just two promotions away from the Conference. However, they were told their artificial pitch meant further progression wasn’t possible and, in response, their main sponsors pulled out.


An exodus of players followed and Durham’s team of local sixth-formers finished bottom of the league on zero points (they won two games but were also given a points deduction). After daring to fly close to the sun, they are now back in the Northern League, with an infrastructure which Bernard initially deemed below-par. “When I came in, I was told that the infrastructure was in place but the previous owner left the club in a mess”, he says. “Thankfully, the club is now stable and the people here want to be here. That’s the most important thing.”


This may refer to ex-manager Adam Furness and assistant Ian Skinner, who Bernard sensationally sacked in March after the Citizens’ 6-1 against Bedlington. Their departures were due to disagreements about the club’s future. Several players left in anger but Bernard stood firm. Amongst the mayhem, current boss Ian Chandler – who managed Whitley Bay to three FA Vase successes – came in and guided Durham to ninth place.



Bernard was originally quoted as wanting the club to give non-league experience to Newcastle and Sunderland’s youth players. He clarifies those comments: “I wanted Durham to be a feeder club in the sense that bigger clubs will eventually pinch our best players, due to the high level of quality training they’ve received. The idea is to keep the player but, if you have a Ronaldo or Messi in your team, you’re not going to keep them for long and we need to accept that.”


It is almost impossible for Durham to develop a Ronaldo or Messi, considering that Newcastle and Sunderland are nowhere near doing so themselves. Home-grown talents are often limited to substitute appearances and back-up status thanks to the influx of overseas players. In the early Premier League days, it used to just be the superstars that were foreign but the situation has evolved so that squad players are too.


The North East is a large region of England but only 16 North East-raised players appeared in the Premier League last season. Taking away sporadic appearances by Joe Bennett, Dan Burn, Sammy Ameobi, Paul Dummett, Danny Graham and Steven Taylor, only 10 could be considered regulars (including Andy Carroll, who was stalled by injury). For 38 game weeks, 20 teams choose 11 starters. Of those 8,360 Premier League starts, only 266 were from the North East – a shockingly low 3.18%. So much for being a hotbed of footballing talent!


To make matters worse, only 26 of the 266 came from Newcastle United (9.77%) - Sunderland’s 76 looks glorious by comparison. Just 38.35% of North East starts came from the region’s sides, with Jordan Henderson, Michael Carrick, Stewart Downing and James Morrison taking up the bulk. There were over twice as many African starts than North East ones, with 597.



Clubs find it simpler to purchase overseas talent as a short-term fix, as the pressures of retaining Premier League status take their toll. Last season, 17 of Sunderland’s 19 signings were foreign. Then there’s Newcastle’s well-known French revolution, now with a Dutch twist. “I think clubs buy abroad because it’s an easy way to mask the lack of quality coaching”, adds Bernard. “Newcastle would rather spend money on ready-made players than on their academy. They’ve done well getting in the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Moussa Sissoko, now [Emmanuel] Rivière and [Remy] Cabella but they won’t be there for long.


“If you look at Michael Carrick, he had to leave the North East and became an England international for years. Players like that should be developed up here because there should be coaches that can identify potential. I want to rectify that”, claims Bernard. “I want to open a Centre of Excellence, where players are allowed to develop to the best of their ability.”


Bernard spent seven years as a youth at Lyon, a club which has recently gave the world Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, Loic Remy, Clement Grenier and Samuel Umtiti. The French national football centre at Clairefontaine has produced a conveyor belt of talent. The English FA finally opened their centre in 2012 but what else can be done to improve youth development? “Learn from the best. I believe France has one of the best systems, along with Spain and Holland. A lot of people think they can play the game but they don’t understand it. That’s the difference from the likes of Barcelona. Their players understand the game and develop a habit, with a core of players playing together week in and week out for 10 years. That’s why they were on top of the world for five years.”


When it comes to non-British Premier League starts from last season, France, Spain and Holland were the top three. A great youth system seemingly leads to mass exportation, but what about vice versa? Perhaps more British players going abroad would benefit coaching methods for youngsters. Sporting Lisbon recently sold England Under-21 international Eric Dier to Tottenham and brought in Dundee United’s 18-year-old midfielder Ryan Gauld. It’s a rarity. Dier moved to Portugal aged 10 and was spotted by Sporting’s scouts and, in 2011, Dale Jennings left Tranmere Rovers to join Bayern Munich. These deals are only remembered because they’re so abnormal.



But Bernard doesn’t think British youngsters going abroad is the answer. “No, I think the coaches should go abroad”, he states. “They need to be more subtle in their approach – it shouldn’t all be about the desire to retrieve the ball, it’s about learning how to keep it. They shouldn’t be losing it in the first place; they should be pressing higher up the pitch. There’s too much emphasis on winning. It’s better – especially when you’re young – to teach players how to play rather than winning at all costs. In England, it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you do. But in Spain, France and Holland they’ll teach you how to do it.”


It’s not all terrible on British shores though, as Bernard witnessed firsthand in his spell at St Mary’s. “Southampton’s academy is fantastic, probably one of the best. When I was there, they had the likes of Nathan Dyer, Theo Walcott, Adam Lallana and Gareth Bale. They reached the FA Youth Cup Final and were superb. They’re one of the few clubs in England who dedicate time to youth and have a high standard of coaching.”


His vision is that Durham City will eventually have an academy, with the potential of providing another Ronaldo or Messi to the world. As for the club itself, plans are underway to make sure Conference chiefs don’t stand in their way anymore. “The plan is to get promoted in the next five years and hopefully there’ll be a new stadium to look forward to, near the city centre”, Bernard states. “The Arnott Stadium is very nice but Belmont is too far out of the way. But my intention is to bring league football to Durham City, which would be a wonderful achievement. A city the size of Durham needs to have a league team, a new dream to get excited about.”


He also plans to complete his coaching badges “in the next two to three years”, enabling a dreamer like Bernard to own, chair and manage Durham City’s rise to league football. Maybe it’s his destiny.