Coaching a 'burning passion' since I was a teenager, reveals Milligan

Mark Milligan might not be hanging up the boots just yet but that doesn't mean he hasn't fixed his sights firmly on the next stage of his career – becoming an elite coach.

Having been to four FIFA World Cups, and played under mentors as diverse as Guus Hiddink, Ange Postecoglou, Graham Arnold, Kevin Muscat, Pim Verbeek, Pierre Littbarski, Neil Lennon and Bert van Marwijk, it's fair to say that Milligan has enjoyed an exceptional breadth of coaching ideas.

But while most players tend to think only of the short-term, the 33-year old revealed his fascination with the dugout began even before his professional career began.

"Coaching has been a burning passion of mine since I was a teenager, which is pretty unusual," he told The World Game.

"I'm drawn to the mental and tactical sides of the game. That really developed when I was at the AIS. The way Ray Junna and Steve O'Connor planned things out opened my mind to how critical coaching is to dictating player performance.

"We really lived and breathed all the different elements of the game: what it takes to get a team ready, to prepare them physically, tactically and mentally. Having an influence on a game, without actually kicking a ball, is such an intriguing prospect for me. And it takes a special type of character to do that."

Milligan believes his exposure to such different tactical philosophies and man-management strategies has given him an ideal grounding to understand what works in different situations and with different personalities.

"I've played under some brilliant coaches and have experienced a number of ways to be successful," he said.

"I've always taken a lot of mental notes on what they do and why they do it. What I'm hoping to do is to pick the best from each of them and then draw that into my own style.

"I draw a lot of inspiration from the little things – like teaching players something in training that will directly influence what they do in the game. In particular, Bert van Marwijk had a special gift for that. Every drill could be connected into either our game plan or a possible in-game situation."

Converted into a centre-half by van Marwiijk at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Milligan has special praise for the Socceroos' short-lived coach.

"He was fantastic. He worked so well with [Mark] van Bommel and it showed how important it is to surround yourself with good assistants," he said. "Together, they could communicate complex ideas in a simple way. Nothing was wasted at training.

"We didn't have a second to spare from the moment they took over and only had time to work on defensive shape, which was probably the best part of our play in Russia."

And it's another Dutchman who has helped Milligan form ideas about how to treat players off the pitch.

"Dwight Lodeweges, who coached me at JEF United, left a huge impact on me. He was absolutely wonderful and I took a lot from him because he did things a lot differently to everyone else," he said.

"In particular, he just knew how to connect with the players – their needs and what made them perform.

"He actually didn't have long in Japan [a single season] but he did exceptionally well in an country where foreigners aren't given much time to get it right. I can see myself coaching in Japan, so I'll take on board a lot of his ideas."

Because of international duties, Milligan hasn't completed his coaching badges as yet but he has already received overtures to study in Japan and Europe, signifying how highly he is already regarded as a coaching prospect.

He said his recent move to Scottish club Hibernian was partially motivated by experiencing another style of leadership in a nation famed for producing quality man-managers.

"I've had coaches that have been very strict or very reserved and it's worked for certain coaches at certain times," he said. "I've also seen coaches who try to be your friend and then try be the hard man at the same time – and that rarely works.

"What I'm looking for now is how different personalities respond to different things. Whilst I'm still a player, I'm trying to see both sides of it – not just what the coach is putting out there, but what the players are actually taking in.

"I think it's important to remember what it feels like as a player, too, because that empathy will make you a better coach down the track."